


Fragments

by Madance



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa Zero, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: And First Aid, And Ryoko was confused or weirded out by most of them, And probably secretly writing fanfics of them, And she met the other half of her classmates, Basically, F/F, Forgetful girl has a bunch of different personalities, Forgetful girl has a crush on hot nurse, Forgetful girl is a badass, Forgetful girl is confused with all of her jumbled thoughts and memories, Forgetful girl is disdainful and salty, Have No Idea, I'm looking at you Nagito, Junko is a possessive bitch, Keeps annoying Ryoko's patience, Mikan and Ryoko are lowkey Yandere's, Mikan is confused and a emotional mess, Mikan is jealous, Monokuma is an asshole, Mwahahahah, Poor Girl, Poor Ryoko has some awful flashbacks or deja vu's, Ryoko does some analizing, Ryoko is jealous, Ryoko jumps into conclusions, Ryoko needs love, Ryoko's personality is a mix between her original personality on the Novel and Junko's, Ryoko/Junko is a eurasian, Shit will be getting real, Since things will be getting violent, Sonia is a good friend, Sonia is just shipping, Will add more tags as the story goes, and a creepy stalker, its Danganronpa 2 + IF novel + Ryoko, so she is half japanese and half european, thank god
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 14:40:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14718024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madance/pseuds/Madance
Summary: Following the canon from the novel Danganronpa IF, around a month after it's ending.After being captured by the fourteen division of the Future Foundation, Enoshima Junko is put under the Neo World program along with the others Remnants of Despair, in a attempt to save her from being executed. However, unexpected occurrences started to happen when she woken up as Otonashi Ryoko, and the Virus Monokuma appeared on the system.





	1. Fragment 01 - Meet and greet, with an old disdain in her eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryoko meets half of her classmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Well, I decided to make my own contribution to this fandom, by making a story revolving around the Danganronpa IF novel with elements from the Danganronpa 3, Danganronpa 1, and etc. I always loved the IF novel and I adore the Danganronpa Zero, since it brought a new light to Junko's character. So I decided to make something that would fit the IF continuity while adding my own suppositions around it. I must warn that I will be using some strong language in some moments, violence, and all those things that can be expected from a Mature fic. Also, Ryoko's personality is a mix between Junko's and her original personality from the novel book, and of course, she has a bunch of them, all in following with Junko's well know personalities(although she cannot control them at all).
> 
> I hope you all like this first introductory chapter.

**Fragments**

**A recollection of a memory almost lost to time**

 

 

 

\---

 

**Fragment 01 - Meet and greet, with an old disdain in her eyes**

 

_Breath..._

_Breath..._

Hope’s Peak Academy. The government founded institutions that research all kinds of talents across the world.

 

_Breath..._

_Breath..._

Hope’s Peak Academy. The place where no one can enter by themselves, but by being scouted by the institution itself, therefore, no entrance exams are made.

_Breath..._

_Breath..._

Hope’s Peak Academy. The place that sets their students for life, separate them from the rest of the society as Ultimates, and not as common, untalented, worthless people...

 

Just _breath..._

Not... As anyone else...

Not as... Me?

I’m... Falling... Suffocating... In an endless pit of nothingness.

 

And I awaken from the pressure, from flashes of wicked smiles, bloodstained faces, from machines with flashing lights, strange, familiar girls with blonde pigtails, insults from _him_ and the gentle words of _her_...

Dizzily I stand up on my weak legs, almost like I am feeling all my strength being taken away from my body by an unknown force, while I took an uneasy step towards nowhere in particular.

 

_It’s all so dark... And there is a... Door?_

 

A wooden door. So familiar and so unknown.

 

_What lies beyond this? Why do I want to know?_

 

Touching the doorknob, turning it slowly, I enter the room.

 

Alone. Empty school desks...

 

_I can’t really walk anymore. I feel so... Exhausted..._

 

I shambled. I crawled. I sat on the chair by the closest school desk I saw.

 

I pressed my face against it.

 

Such an unbearable headache. I felt bile almost coming out of my throat. The nasty feeling of a disgusting sickness.

 

And I slept with nothing, but the fragments of something I could not even call a deja vu. Not even a passing thought.

 

There was a boy with girly eyes... One that I failed to protect from _something_...

 

And there was a girl who was hurt by everyone around her... One that was hurt even more because _I failed_...

 

Failed? Who had hurt them? Why do I care if I can’t remember?

 

I feel like I should know, But I can’t? Why? Why does it hurt like this?

 

And this girl, why do I feel so miserable when I try to remember?

 

Her smile... Those gentle eyes, filled with tears...

 

_Who are you?_

 

Her name... A whisper and I acknowledge as a truth.

 

I’m so confused...

 

_Who am I?_

 

Please, would someone, _anyone_ tell me...

 

\---

 

A gentle pull was enough to awake the sleepy girl.

“Hey? I’m sorry that I am disturbing you, but can you hear me? Are you all right?”

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at a foreign blonde woman. Without truly meaning to, she answered her question. “My head... It hurts so much...”

“Oh my, you must have fainted really hard if you are feeling so much pain... Here, let me help you!”

The foreign blonde proceeds to help the other girl to stand. She could see she was still seated on a classroom desk, but the sun was somehow shining brightly above her head. The sand was covering her shoes and in fact, she was sweating and getting even more nauseous just by remaining under those direct sun rays.

“Ugh, I feel like I’m about to choke, or throw up!” She complained to the foreign girl, who simply pushed her to stand under the shade of a palm tree.

“I’m so sorry for your predicament, my dear, I wasn’t aware how terrible it must have felt to simply lose consciousness like that, although, it’s quite surprising how much tired you must have been for not waking up at all during all those... Unseemly events!” The foreign blonde exclaimed, one hand timidly covering her mouth. “Oh, how rude of me, I have not even offered you a proper introduction, allow me to correct this.”

Staring at her expectantly, the foreign girl declared. “I’m Sonia Nevermind, I’m the Ultimate Princess. I wish the circumstances were better, but alas, one must make do with what is offered to them.”

Ultimates... She felt she heard about such things before. It’s at the edge of her mind, crawling over her perception, hiding beyond her sight, but staying close enough to bother her with the knowledge of something important.

Is she an Ultimate too? Why is this even important at all? Why does she feel the need to look somewhere? Somewhere... _Something_ to help her remember?

Almost immediately, the girl noticed that she was carrying a backpack, and for some reason, she felt that at least a simple answer to a question laid inside of it. Turning her attention from the girl in front of her, this ‘Sonia’ lady, she opened the backpack and took from it what seemed to be a notebook. In its cover, there was the simple description: ‘Otonashi Ryoko’s Memory Notebook’.

Otonashi Ryoko? It sounds so familiar. It sounds like it belongs to her... Her name, perhaps? And this notebook... Is it a recollection of her memories? She feels like it would be the case.

Staring curiously at the notebook’s cover, she happily replied. “It seems that my name is... Otonashi Ryoko? My memories are strange and vague, but you seem somewhat familiar to me... Maybe we knew each other, by any chance?”

“Unfortunately, that isn’t the case, at least when it comes to us both knowing each other...” Sonia looked at the notebook and at her eyes, deep in thought. “It seems you have some amnesia or other memory issues if you are carrying something like a memory book. Well, that’s OK, I think, you weren’t awake for all those unseemly unexpected things that did happen to us, not to mention, there is another student who apparently is also suffering from some memory deprivation, from what I heard. So it’s isn’t such a big deal.”

Another person with memory loss? It almost seems... _Wrong_ , but she had no other kind of information to compare with, and frankly, with how much intense her migraine is getting just by being standing close to the sun, she would not get much done being around here, questioning her present state. “If you don’t mind, Sonia-san, would you care to go somewhere else? I don’t think I can handle being here without some uncomfortable consequences happening. I am, after all, feeling sick with all this insolation.”

“Ah, of course! I wouldn’t mind at all, I am eager to go somewhere more secluded, my skin tone really doesn’t agree with this climate, you know!” As soon as Sonia said those words, she proceeds to walk away from the shade in the direction from what seemed opposite from the beach. “Follow me! This tropical place can be bothersome when we are in no condition to enjoy it!”

Feeling slightly confused, but without much options to go through, Ryoko followed Sonia away from the beach. She felt inexplicably annoyed for some reason, like there was _somewhere_ she needed to be, around _someone_ who could help her deal with the pain.

She needed to assess the situation first, then she could properly deal with all those strange emotions.

 

\---

 

They had walked out of the beach and crossed a bridge that connected one island to another until they arrived at what seemed to be an open area with a colossal statue. The sign ‘Jabberwock Park’ was already descriptive enough, but the surroundings were somewhat strange.

_‘Not that it would matter much, my migraine is only increasing, even if this place actually is far more shaded by the trees than that insufferable beach. I don’t know why my temper is flaring so much, but I feel so much anger. Now, what is there to see around here?’_

Ryoko looked around briefly, making mental notes and assessing the area.

“Oh, look at that. I’ve never seen a statue of an eagle riding a man, who is riding a horse over a huge stone, while a tiger barely hanging from the pedestal is fighting a serpent of its same size. _Joyful_.” The chestnut redhaired girl spoke sarcastically, rolling her eyes while doing so. “Why are we here, Sonia-san? This place blows. I’m so bored with it just by standing here.”

“Really? I think that the scenery is really nice since it does remind me of the one on my castle garden, although, I do agree that whoever has chosen to put such a strange statue right here wasn’t thinking clearly. Maybe this is a symbol for this island, but it is ‘super bad news’, as they say.”

_‘Oh please, tell me she didn’t try to look cool right now. Ugh. I better change my attention quickly, before I say something rude.’_

Looking around herself again, Ryoko noticed a rather fat boy with an expensive white suit analyzing the surrounding area with interest, muttering to himself. She could try read his lips, but why even bother?

 

Walking towards him, she waved, for no reason than to simply draw his attention to her. She really didn’t want to act friendly, her patience had limits, after all. “Hello there!”

The boy looked at her and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed. “ Let me guess. Do you want to make some kind of introduction? If so, make it quick.”

_‘Great, that really spared me the need to waste time with this guy. Good, one less to annoy me.’_

“Well then, allow me! My name is Otonashi Ryoko. I seem to have some memory issues, so don’t bother wasting time trying to make me remember anything, and of course, it would also seem that I had forgotten my talent in all of this commotion.” Ryoko said all those words with a polite, but assertive voice tone, trying to not let her unknown classmate know how bored she was with the topic and his presence. “Now that was said, what is your talent and name?”

The boy blinked for a moment, confused and his voice almost faltered. Perhaps he did not expect such turns and pulls in a common statement such as this? Or maybe it was for some other reason. Not that Ryoko cared. She almost was sighing in exasperation just by reminding herself that she had an entire class to meet and greet in a similar fashion.

“...My name is Togami Byakuya. I’m the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Now that I made my acquaintance with you, commoner girl, would care to leave me alone?” He said those words and turned his back to her, walking away.

_‘Good. I could not stand those pleasantries more than necessary, however, there is something about his name that bothers me, I am almost offended by it. Well, it doesn't matter. Next.’_

“How rude of Togami-san to act like this!” Sonia frowned, looking at Byakuya’s retreating form. “I mean, sure, you are a commoner and has memory problems, but this is not your fault at all. Someone with our kind of influence shouldn’t be swayed so easily by such prejudice!”

_‘Oh my God, she is one of those girls. The kind of a girl who actually thinks so highly of herself, but in the end is nothing but a presumptuous bastard who likes to tower over others while claiming otherwise. Ugh.’_

Taking a deep breath and faking a small smile to the foreigner blonde beside her, Ryoko happily exclaimed. “Let him be! We do need to meet everyone else, right? Shall we get a move on? Great!”

Both girls walked off away from the park. Ryoko’s migraine still tormented her thoughts. Picking up her Memory Notebook, she wrote a note in regards to Togami Byakuya’s first impressions.

**_‘Togami Byakuya, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny is a rich fat boy from a powerful family who doesn’t coddle others, which is good as long he doesn’t become a nuisance to me. However, he is still boring to interact with.’_ **

Thinking about her own first impression of Sonia, she decided to write a small note about her as well.

_**‘I woke up to the feeling of emptiness, and the first person that greeted me was the Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind, a foreign girl from whatever-land who seems to think so highly of herself, even if she is quite friendly with me. Sonia is polite and helpful, but I don’t really care for her.’** _

 

\---

 

Ryoko had no recollection if she ever gone to a farm or a ranch on her life, but she could certainly say without any doubt that cows didn’t simply open their mouths and started to emit sounds akin to ‘clucking’, like a chicken would do. She knew that, but even so, that’s is exactly what happened as soon as they both passed close to the sign written ‘Usami’s Corral’. Feeling confused and staring at the foreign girl beside her for a second, both of them silently agreed to check that bizarre animal behavior before proceeding to other areas.

“Shouldn’t be the other way around?” Sonia’s words seemed overly fascinated by the ‘chicken-cow’, who was trying in vain to eat what seemed to be corn in the ground. “Look how strange it is acting! Maybe is contaminated with the legendary Mad Cow Disease! We must be cautious to not consume it’s contaminated tissues, since its prions are not destroyed by high temperatures when it is cooked, and it causes severe brain degeneration!”

Feeling both perplexed and amused at Sonia’s statement, the chestnut redhaired girl laughed. “Ha! That would not do at all, rightl? I’m glad we have an expert here to protect us from the mad cow evil!”

“Worry not, Ryoko-chan! I will not allow the consumption of such dangerous animals! I will issue a formal statement about this when we all gather at the most proper convenience!” Sonia firmly declared, her authority becoming transparent and efficient in each said word, and Ryoko felt the need to offer her a bow and carry her orders without even meaning to, but she resisted the urge the best as she could. She was joking, and it would not do to have the joke turned on herself, would it?

_‘But... Did she call me with a “chan” suffix? Bah, I won’t bother, she won’t be the last one around here to use it, so I might as well start to get used to such things. It was funny, I give her that.’_

And Ryoko laughed, which made the blonde smile at her even more sweetly than before. It was a pretty smile, she had to admit, even if Sonia seemed a bit weirded by her laughter, although, she could not really understand the reason.

“Hey! Who the hell was laughing like a maniac like now? That creepy laughter scared all of the Mr.Birds away! How am I supposed to hit them with stones, right now?” A loud and childlike voice interrupted Ryoko’s thoughts. “So who it was? I will bop them in the head!”

Sonia and Ryoko exchanged looks before both of them turned their attention to the newcomer.

She was small, way too small for a high school student, so Ryoko wasn’t sure she actually even was one, but her behavior seemed quite aggressive for someone who looked like a child straight out of a ancient Japanese book, with her orange ornamented kimono, her pigtails tying her hair into place, and of course, an awful attitude that practically screamed ‘I am a rich, traditional girl who thinks highly of myself, but I will probably cry a river if anyone says anything that I don’t like. Fear me.’

_‘Is every one of my supposed classmates a bunch of rich bastards? This will suck even more than I imagined.’_

Frowning and taking a quick look around the little girl and at her Memory Notebook, Ryoko found a strange but small note stuck in one page. It seemed to be an advertisement of a ‘middle school division’ that it was in partnership with Hope’s Peak Academy.

It was quite sudden and strangely convenient to find something like this out of nowhere, but it’s not like she remembers anything anyway, so why even bother worrying about such things?

Having an unexpected idea, Ryoko closed her Memory Notebook and simply spoke to the girl before her those words. “...Oh wow. An underdeveloped brat with psychotic tendencies. I guess you must be the bully of the playground who kills all the neighborhood dogs and pester everyone to give you attention. Go back to the kindergarten, you little psycho.”

Sonia gasped beside her, and Ryoko noticed the very small girl acquire an angry shade of red in her countenance, closing her small fists hard and actually punching her in her gut. “How dare you say this to me, you disgusting _hafu!_ I’m not a kid! And take that too!”

Before she could hit her again, the chestnut redhaired girl moved quickly to her side and easily evaded the punch, laughing out loud sarcastically. “Oh, that’s interesting. Here, let me dance with you, your racist.”

She took control of the little girl's fists by holding her wrists high above her head from behind her body, while the girl squirmed. “Aw, let me end this quick since I have no patience for you at all. My name is Otonashi Ryoko, and I hope those birds that you were torturing empty their bowels all over this pretty little kimono of yours. Now, will you tell me your boring name or should I call you crazy psycho from now on?”

“Release me or I will cry and I will ask that dumb athletic idiot over there to hit you!” The girl whined and kept struggling to be released from her hold but to no success. Seeing that she was out of options, she pouted and sulked, muttering an answer. “...My name is Saionji Hiyoko. I’m the Ultimate Traditional Dancer. Would you please release me now?”

“Very well, you may go, Saionji, the dancer.” Ryoko released the girl only to be kicked on the heel by Hiyoko’s wooden sandal as soon as she was able.

_‘This was a little painful but is not like I wasn’t expecting her to do this. She is quite irritating, from what I can assume with a poor excuse for a talent. Probably have some daddy or mommy issues on her back, or perhaps she is the lonely type who try to act tough when she is actually a complete useless coward by herself. In other words, nothing but a leech. Ugh.’_

“Hahaha! What a dumb idiot! You won’t ever catch me again in those filthy paws, your laughing weirdo!” Hiyoko boldly declared while running away from the farm as fast as her tiny legs allowed her.

Ryoko watched her form disappear at the distance with disdain and openly yawned, covering her mouth politely.

“Um, I cannot even say if I am bothered by her attitude or yours, but since she was being cruel toward animals out of pure malice, and was a little racist, then I can’t really blame you for mocking her, but try to be more courteous next time, all right?” Sonia's voice sounded like a mix between someone being condescending and amused.

_‘Whatever. This is all just meaningless to me, anyway, just like your words, and don't you dare talk about racism.’_

“More importantly, the brat mentioned something about having a ‘dumb athletic idiot’ hit me. From the way she squawked, I can safely assume that this person is around here?” Ryoko started to observe and take notes of her surroundings as soon as she said those words, noticing a lot of safety hazards she needed to avoid if this so-called idiot tried to actually attack her. A small, despicable girl was one thing, but an athletic individual might pose some problems if not properly counter measured. “Do you have any idea of whom she might be talking about?”

Pressing the tip of her finger on her lips and frowning in thought at her question, the blonde foreigner muttered an answer. “It would seem that she must have been talking about either Nidai-san or Akane-chan, but Pekoyama-chan can also be considered athletic... Well, regardless, none of them seemed to be the kind of people who would just hit you without any reason, so I can say that you are safe.”

Sonia had just finished saying those words when a rather athletic well-developed girl shouted at the top of her lungs at them.

“Hey, you! I haven’t met you before, but my gut is never wrong and it is telling me that you are either strong or dangerous! So I wanna fight you right here and now! Come at me!” the athletic, well-endowed girl with her white shirt almost ripping apart with how big her chest was stomped towards both of them, cracking her knuckles.

Turning her head to Sonia, Ryoko grumbled sarcastically. “ _Thank you so very much_ , Sonia. I will be sure to haunt you if she does murder me.”

Running to the barn as soon as she said those words, Ryoko noticed more safety hazards than she had previously detected in her first look at the surrounding area. Old ropes that connected to the center of the roof, badly wrapped around an unseemly scuttle full of coals laid across the entrance. Without missing a beat, Ryoko grabbed the rope and used all her strength to tore it open, while holding to it, so to avoid having the scuttle fall out of the time. When the athletic girl crossed the door, Ryoko released it and grabbed a bit of hay laying on the ground and run towards her assailant. As she predicted, the scuttle full of coals fell over the girl’s head with a loud ‘thud’ , the heavy weight of it certainly taking her attention for the moment, and before she could even recover, Ryoko threw the hay over her eyes and jumped over her, pushing her down to the hay covered ground of the barn.

Ryoko felt like she won, for a moment, but as quick as she could predict her actions, the girl was not that easily surprised by this action, and easily reversed their positions, with Ryoko being the one forcefully tackled on the ground while the girl pinned her body without any effort. She struggled to get out, but soon enough, she sighed and gave up entirely. Her migraine only worsened and now she felt nauseous, annoyed, bothered, inconvenienced and again, _bored_ , with all of this.

“HA! YOU LOST! Man, you did catch me with that bucket trick, but I won in the end!” The athletic girl gloated in triumph. Ryoko only sighed again, letting her entire body relax. When the girl noticed that Ryoko wasn’t reacting or struggling, she pouted and climbed off her. “So, you already gave up? Tch! And I was sure you would be a challenge. Guess I was wrong...”

“Challenge? So you haven’t attacked me because the brat, or whatever her name is asked you to?” Ryoko started to raise from the ground and patted her clothes, trying to keep the hay away from her body. “She seemed certain that you would attack me on her command or something.”

“Oh, you mean Saionji-san! Well, I did hear her shout or something, but I was too busy looking for some chicken eggs that were laid to actually bother to come see what she wanted. Had I knew that you would surprise me like this, I would have come sooner, even if you aren’t much of a challenge in a real battle.”

“Wait... Were you _actually_ after the chicken eggs? Why?” Sonia interjected in their conversation, apparently having her curiosity picked over the theme. “I’m not seeing you carrying any with you, have you left them there?

Shrugging and standing with her hands akimbo, the girl laughed. “Obviously I could not bring them with me, that’s why I ate them! That was tasty, but I surely could eat way more since those things haven’t filled not an inch of my stomach!”

Ryoko was silent for a few seconds before feeling her headache crashing even harder than what normally had. She _really_ needed to get away from this farm, or else she would do something, anything to pass out and not hear more about any of her classmates' strange behavior. “Look, I will leave right now, but my name is Otonashi Ryoko, and I don’t remember what kind of Ultimate talent I have, but please, just tell me your name and Ultimate so I can get out of this farm? My head is really bothering me and I feel terrible.”

“Ah, Why you hadn’t said so? Anyway, my name is Owari Akane and I am the Ultimate Gymnast! I hope you get better and come fight me again!” Akane smiled, but Ryoko muttered a simple ‘thank you’ before pivoting on her feet and walking away from the farm.

Picking up her Memory Notebook, she wrote two notes, one about Akane and the other about... Was her name Saionja or something?

_**‘Akane reasoning is beyond impossible to comprehend and she seems quite chaotic. It would be wise to not confront her directly if necessary, as the Ultimate Gymnast, she has quite the physical strength and seemed overly eager to engage in fights, not to mention, she ate some barely laid chicken eggs without taking any precaution over their hygiene, I assume. Although unpredictable, she annoys me and makes my head explode in pain. I suggest avoiding her whenever possible.’** _

_**‘The Ultimate Traditional Dancer, or bitchy brat, or psycho on formation, or whatever her name is(I already lost interest, but I think something along ‘Saionja’ , not that I care) is an annoying, cruel, foulmouthed, egocentric and apparently, a rich girl with a bad attitude towards anything and anyone who she might perceive as different from her, thus, making her someone who apparently enjoys causing pain to others, and apparently, a racist. A typical, predictable puny bully through and through, with no interesting characteristics other the fact she is a rotten human being. I suggest to simply humiliate her in creative ways to pass the time, for no reason than the fact that it would reduce how bored I already am with her. Those people are incomprehensible, it would seem.’** _

Not that any of this actually mattered to her, in the least. The disdain she felt for everyone she had met until that moment was very clear and she could not wait for the chance to simply ignore all of them as soon as possible.

 

\---

 

Airport.

_‘Sigh, here I go again, another annoying, bothersome and irritating classmate to test my patience... If there is actually anyone here.’_

“...Sonia, please, for the love of all that is sacred and holy, tell me that someone is actually here and we aren’t wasting our time wandering around aimlessly...”

Whipping her head quickly towards Ryoko, the foreign blonde smiled so brightly that the mere vision of it almost made the chestnut redhaired Japanese girl beside her groan in exasperation. “You called my name without any suffix! Oh, so are we close enough to do that? I’m so happy!”

“Yeah, sure.” Ryoko held her head with one hand, barely concealing how little she cared for that entire affirmation, too busy trying to not strangle the girl beside her for being too loud and worsening her ever-present headache, while the said girl was excitedly bursting with energy, eyes shining happily.

“I always wanted to have a friend to confide and spend time with, I’m glad that we talked to each other.” The foreign blonde recomposed herself and firmly declared, with a decisiveness that caught Ryoko by surprise with its intensity. “Then allow me to extend to you the same courtesy. From now on, I shall call you Ryoko! Let this be a sign of our friendship!”

Sighing and feeling utterly too exhausted to even counter the Princess words, Ryoko gave the girl a gentle pat on her head. “Great. Now that we are, like, super best friends forever and all that jazz, could we _please_ move on? I’m really out of energy.”

“Certainly!” Sonia grabbed Ryoko’s left hand and pulled towards the depths of the airport. “I believe some of our classmates were interested in investigating this place, so I’m sure we shall meet a couple of them! So ‘cheer up, soul sister’, we can restore your energy soon enough!”

Resisting the urge to not pull her on arm back and walk away from the girl, Ryoko forced a smile, her hands closing themselves into tight fists with each of Sonia’s words.

_‘Keep calm... Keep calm... She is doing a huge favor... Don’t do anything rash... Breath...’_

They ran around the airport, Sonia’s animated giggles being very obvious to anyone who might have seen both girls. For that reason, they obviously attracted the attention of those who were exploring the area like them.

“Yo! Your majesty!” A male, excited voice disturbed the foreign blonde giggles, that suddenly ceased as soon she heard the boy talking, sighing in an unusual display of annoyance, picking Ryoko’s curiosity immediately. “Have you changed your mind and decided to spend some time exploring this place with me? I can show you how those machines work, no problem!”

A boy wearing what seemed to be a mechanic jumpsuit and a beanie, with hair painted in a bright pink color, appeared out of the corner of their eyes, with a sharp smile showcasing his very pointed teethes and practically jumping in joy. For what reason, Ryoko could only infer, but considering the fact that he seemed far too eager and actually called Sonia by a formal title, she could assume he was elated that the Princess was in his presence.

Or something akin to that. Which means, she was in the presence of an obvious fanboy.

“Ah, it’s _only_ you, Soda-san.” Sonia’s disappointed tone and the way she immediately deflated by the sigh of the said boy was both amusing and bothersome to behold.

Amusing since it made the girl stop acting so happily, and bothersome since she seemed to be uncomfortable with the guy’s presence.

Her guide wasn’t supposed to be feeling like that all of a sudden. It was inconvenient and the chestnut redhaired girl wanted to correct this as soon as she could, else she would be stuck having to find all her classmates by herself with her migraine constantly tormenting her thoughts. Not to mention, something was leaving her... Unsettled in that specific situation, but she could not pinpoint why.

At Sonia’s obvious lack of interest in the said boy company, the boy's face scrunched in unexpected ways. “Aw, common! I discovered so many things all by myself when I was exploring this place! It’s not like I did nothing...”

“Hm, like what?” Sonia’s voice kept the same unamused tone as before, with her sharing a look with Ryoko that practically screamed ‘help me out of this mess’, which prompted a small grumble from the girl beside her.

“Like, the engines of all those planes outside were removed, leaving just their carcass on display. Which means that we can’t use them to escape this island at all.” The boy smiled in triumph, but Sonia only took a deep breath and politely smiled.

She really did not seem any impressed by it.

“Good work, Soda-san, now, if you may, could you please introduce yourself to my friend? You know, she was the one who fainted over the class desk and only woke up some time ago, and I would be overjoyed if you both could meet”. At Sonia’s words, Ryoko looked at her and whispered a small ‘thank you’.

It seems that she wanted to get over this conversation as fast as her. Which means, she really must dislike this boy.

“If you say so, who am I to deny you bidding, your majesty?” Ryoko could practically see imaginary daggers coming out of Sonia’s eyes at the boy’s words, and everything in her posture showcases an increasing feeling of disdain towards him. “Name’s Soda Kazuichi and I am the Ultimate Mechanic! Nice to meet ya!”

Ryoko gave the boy an empty smile, her disdain and unexpected need to make him cower before her shaping her next words.

“And I am Otonashi Ryoko, I’m the Ultimate whatever since I can’t remember anything due to this raging pain that I’m feeling right now, but I sure it’s far more useful than this skill of yours.” The chestnut redhaired girl smiled brightly while saying each of those words, seeing Kazuichi expression turn sour as soon as she expected. “ Like, what good are you if you just go stating the obvious? I could know that the planes didn’t work without being a mechanic. Anyone with eyes would be able to notice that, or were you thinking that Sonia and I am a duo of stupid girls that you could ‘impress’ with the simplest of things? _Please_.”

“Hey! Don’t be mean, I made you all a favor by looking at it myself!” Kazuichi made an indignant pout and bristled. “And that was a very rude thing to say to someone you just met!”

She would agree with him, but Ryoko saw how uncomfortable Sonia seemed to be in his presence and felt that the least that she could do to repay the girl’s kindness was to take her side and put the Mechanic in his place. Also, he did underestimate her own intelligence, and this couldn't be allowed. “You know what else is rude? To address a princess with ‘your majesty’ when her parents might still live just because you want to kiss her ass, and from the way you behave, it might even be a literal thing. So you know, you have to say ‘your highness’ and not ‘your majesty’ if you don’t want to be insensible, or are you implying that you want her parents to die? Really, are you so dumb to use a title you don't even know just to try to gain favors? You are ridiculous.”

Kazuichi gasped and stuttered, not making any coherent answer and starting to sweat a bit in nervousness, with small angry tears starting to gather in his eyes. Sonia looked baffled for a moment before gently taking Ryoko’s hand and pulling her away from the boy.

They walked off, going deeper inside the airport until Kazuichi no longer was in their sight’s when Sonia slowed her pace and held the hand firmly. “Thank you very much. No matter how much I told him to stop calling me that, he simply shrugged off my explanations, as if my words weren’t that important. Not to mention that he also was being quite obsessive and stalkerish since he first laid his sight on me, and he was pestering me since I entered that strange classroom from before.”

“So that creep is a stalker? Damn, that sucks, girl. Heck, I’m sure he might try something strange later, so if he is giving you a hard time, give me a call and I will beat him up metaphorically and whatnot until he gets it.” Ryoko simply stated. “I hate those freaks. They don’t respect women and think that they can take advantage of us by playing the ‘nice guy’ card.”

She didn’t like those kinds of people for some reason, a vague thought about it was creeping on the edge of her memory, but as soon as she would try to remember what exactly it was, it would slip away like she was trying to hold water through her fingers. Regardless, she really disliked this kind of behavior and not even her disdain or boredom seemed enough to stop her from doing something about it.

Maybe she was bothered by people like this in the past? She could not really know.

“Do you want to get some fresh air? I really don’t want to see Soda-san so soon and we might find a way to get off this place together if we explore the outside. So let me get you off this place!” The Princess exclaimed with a new found energy.

Ryoko _could_ comment on her words and how they could easily imply another meaning, but unlike the foreigner, she had no interest or the energy to even mock her when it would mean wasting more of her time in this building.

But it was such a waste of a good joke... Sigh.

Grabbing her Memory Notebook from her backpack, she wrote a note regarding her first impression on the Ultimate Mechanic.

**_‘Soda Kazuichi is the Ultimate Mechanic, Sonia’s resident stalker and a weird creep who likes to play the ‘nice guy’ in hopes to get into Sonia’s pants. Beside’s stating the obvious, he also seems to be very easy to push around, not to mention his flashy looks that imply a need for others acknowledgment. I dislike him already.’_ **

After writing her note, Ryoko returned the Memory Notebook to her backpack.

“You seems to be always writing on this notebook. What’s the matter?” Sonia inquired curiously.

“Ah, you know. I have to make notes about the people and things around me from time to time, I think, else I might just forget about them and I might have to do this all over the beginning.” Opening a pair of glass doors that brought both girls to outside, Ryoko returned her attention back to her companion. “And I really don’t want to do this again every single day, so I might as well just write about it and read it later.”

“Oh right! You have memory issues, after all, sorry... Then allow me to help you whenever you need! We are friends after all!”

Normally, she would scoff over how overbearing the foreigner was acting, but it was a little reassuring that she would have some assistance if the need arose. Still, she was a boring girl to deal with, regardless of what she thought.

Outside the airport, they saw another boy, but this time, the boy was shouting loudly towards a bench in front of him, apparently spewing orders of some kind.

“ GO, MY TRUSTED DEMONS! BRING FORTH THE NEWS THAT I SEEK INTO THE DARK CREVICES OF THIS DAMNED PLACE!”

_‘...What?’_

Hearing their footsteps, the strange boy turned towards the confused girls, he frowned for a moment before laughing loudly. “MWAHAHAHAH! A SETBACK WAS CONJURED BY THE ENTITIES OF THE DARK VOID! RETURN TO ME, MY FAITHFUL ALLIES!”

Ryoko’s headache increased so much that she could feel a strange, almost bitter taste on her mouth. Is she going to have a seizure? The dizziness and pounding were making her think that this would be the case if she was submitted to this loudness for more than a few moments.

“Ok, first, _who the hell are you_ , _how can you shout so loudly and not get permanently deaf_ , and _why_ are you shouting like a maniac?” The chestnut redhaired girl gritted her teeth in anger, not concealing in the least her expression. She really wanted to punch this guy.

“Gundham-kun, p-please, keep your voice down, my friend is having a terrible migraine and loud sounds might worsen it!” Sonia’s voice was half whispering and half shouting, if such thing was even possible in this unforeseen situation, an act that Ryoko greatly appreciated, considering how painful it was to endure all that pounding in her head.

“Hm, I see.” The boy's voice took a normal tone and he nodded to the princess, in acknowledgment. They seem to respect each other. Interesting. “Then let me ask you, oh foul fiend, what is your bidding and why do you seek the dark presence of the Overlord of Ice?”

_‘Fiend? Overlord of Ice? Is this guy insane?’_

“Okay, I don’t really get it, but I’m here just to know your name, to introduce myself and then I will back off.” Ryoko’s confusion and annoyance with the way this boy spoke and seemed to act were completely different from her first impressions on Kazuichi. While she found the mechanic to be a creep and openly disliked him, this guy was a mystery, since she didn’t know if she was amused by his nonsensical ramblings or if she wanted to hit him with a baseball bat until his head split open.

She couldn’t decide, so it was safe to say she was neutral. The least that she could do was get this over with and just move on to the next classmate.

“My name is Otonashi Ryoko, by the way. I don’t really remember my Ultimate talent, but I hope I get some idea soon.” She tried to be as direct and polite as she could, not really looking forward to antagonizing this strange boy, or he would start screaming like a maniac again. “Now, can you tell me yours, please?”

Looking somewhat pleased with her answer, the boy smile in triumph. “AHA! Now that you have foolish revealed your one true name, I have the power to control your actions! But your recklessness is to be commended and I shall return your favor in part, so you might know the name of your master!”

_'...Name of my master?’_

“My name is Tanaka Gundham! Remember it well, for it is the name that shall rule this world!” Crossing his arms, the boy laughed, and at its side, four hamsters appeared. “And those are my fearsome demons who do my bidding! My fearsome Four Dark Devas of Destruction!”

At his words, the four little, cuddly hamsters started climbing up his legs and torso, reaching his very long purple scarf and simply hiding inside of it.

_‘This is confusing on so many levels.’_

“I guess you tame animals? Like, are you an animal breeder?” The chestnut redhaired girl questioned, but all she received as an answer was a loud laugh. “Yep, probably. I’m leaving. Have fun planning the destruction of mankind.”

“Hahahahah! Until we meet again, charming kittens! I shall rejoice in your company in the future! Go to the resting place where the weary cry, and we can talk later!”

_‘Kittens?’_

Walking away, still trying to process that bizarre encounter, Ryoko sighed once again.

“You know, Ryoko, I think Gundham-kun enjoyed meeting you!" Sonia said happily. “Since you made an effort to understand him and actually respected his talent, I believe he might look forward to meeting with you again.”

The chestnut redhaired girl stared at the princess with confusion. “Really? That’s... I guess it’s Ok...”

“I’m glad! I was worried you would not be friends, but I knew I could count on you!”

“...I don’t know why are you so invested in this, but whatever.” Ryoko opened her backpack again and took her Memory Notebook out of it, deciding to write something about the strange boy she just met. However, she needed to ask something first. “Sonia, could we please go to a more secluded and less bothersome place? Like, I guess I need a glass of water or drink some tea before we can take off again. Would that be ok with you?”

“Of course!” Walking side by side, Sonia thought out loud. “I think Gundham-kun mentioned a ‘resting place’, maybe its a house, or a hotel that we can use? Or even a hospital? Regardless, we can look for it if you wish!”

“Yeah, sure, let’s go.”

Ryoko opened the Memory Notebook and wrote her note about the Ultimate Breeder, Tanaka Gundham.

_**‘I don’t even know what am I supposed to say about this Tanaka Gundham guy. He is the Ultimate Animal Breeder, who dress up like a dark ninja-slash-hipster, who raises four cute Hamsters in his scarf and call them “Dark Devas” or something and seems to think he is an evil overlord and that I am a demon. I don’t know what to think of him at all. I guess he is... Interesting? Or maybe is just this headache that is making me write nonsensical things. I don’t know.’** _

 

\---

 

They walked for a bit, before finding a huge hotel. It was like what you would expect of a beach resort, with the name ‘Mirai Hotel’ centered on the top of it.

_‘Mirai... Future... Interesting. I feel like this is important. So important... But why?’_

“So this is the hotel that Tanaka talked about. Fancy and good for a resort. Now, where is the restaurant so I can drink something?”

“Aren’t you feeling a little thirsty?” Sonia’s words made Ryoko’s face twitch for a moment before she recomposed herself. “Well, We might get there by using those stairs, shall we go?”

Not giving the blonde foreigner an answer, Ryoko simply walked up the stairs, far more interested in getting her refreshments than waiting for her companion’s acknowledgment on the matter. Her patience was already stretched thin, after all.

There were other people on the hotel grounds that she could see. A rather short boy with a suit, a strong muscular guy with a chain around his neck, an auburn-haired girl who was busy taking photos of the butterflies around some flowers and a serious looking girl with glasses carrying something in a tubular case. She could greet them and introduce herself later, right now, the only thing on her mind was getting a well-needed tea and water.

 

\---

 

“So let me get this straight... Are you _honestly_ saying that we, students from Hope’s Peak Academy, or whatever that is, were brought to this island for no apparent reason by a _mechanical stuffed bunny_ who claimed that we need to become _friends_ with each other and that we are stuck in this u ninhabitable tropical island _until_ it feels like it?” Just by saying those words, Ryoko felt even more annoyed. “What kind of _stupidity_ is this? There is no way I can even consider this as a fact.”

“Well, I would agree with you on most those assessments, but unfortunately, those statements are actually facts, even if they are quite unbelievable by all logic, it would seem.” Sipping her chamomile tea slowly, she offered the exasperated girl in front of her a polite smile. “I still do not understand how we could be possibly transported from one place to another without anyone noticing it and in a blink of an eye, but everyone is too busy right now exploring this strange island.”

Frowning in confusion, the chestnut redhaired girl felt the need to inquire. “Although I am grateful that you woke me up, helped me introduce myself to others and brought me here on your own, why are you just sipping tea with me and not exploring this place with the others? Have you already done such thing?”

“Actually... Not really, but I did introduce myself to them when we were all in class, before being transported to this place.” Smiling again towards the confused girl, Sonia put the now empty teacup on the table. “At first, when we all were transported here, I was in awe of such a paradisiac, beautiful view, and I just... Stood there, thinking how much incredible would it be to have a resort on this island, and I even entertained the idea to make a proposition to do so when I eventually return to my country. Oh yes, I have spoken with a couple of our classmates when I still was on the beach. However, I got lost in thought and before I noticed, everyone had either scattered away in various directions or were about to do so. I was going to do the same when I observed that you still remained unconscious on your desk. I asked for another student to help me wake you properly, and she said she would bring some supplies from the supermarket and-”

As if she suddenly noticed a unexpected information, Sonia made a small letter ‘O’ with her mouth and seemed to become increasing apologetic. “Oh dear, it seems I was quite uncourteous! Our classmate just might have gone to the beach to look for us and we aren’t even there!”

Sighing and feeling bored by whatever Sonia was feeling at the moment, Ryoko shrugged. “It’s not like I particularly care for it, but I can accompany you if you wish. It’s the least I could do since you made an actual effort to wake me up, and walked me around or whatever.”

If Sonia felt taken back from the indifferent tone Ryoko used, she did her best to cover it with her polite and cheerful behavior. “Very well then, let’s go take a look. If we don’t see her there, then we shall proceed towards the Super Market!”

 

\---

 

They arrived back to the beach only to find it occupied by someone. She couldn’t see them well since the shining sun was actually making her eyes hurt if she kept her vision straight, or maybe was her ever bothersome migraine, who kept pestering her outer thoughts.

Not that it would mean anything. She already felt utterly bored by even being there.

“Oh! There she is! Let me get her, you go rest by the tree shade again, since you don’t look that well, Ryoko.”

_‘Way to state the obvious.’_ Ryoko bitterly thought. _‘At least she can notice how nauseous I am. I'm sure this other girl won’t add anything to any interaction she would end up having with me. Sigh. I’m so bored...’_

Walking towards the closest tree shade, Ryoko closed her eyes and tried to keep her tired nerves from blurting out what she was thinking. It would not do to screw her chances to make acquaintances around this situation, especially when they might be certainly useful.

After a few moments, she could hear the sounds of footsteps sinking on the sand around her, probably Sonia and the other girl that she spoke about. “Ah, Ryoko! It seems we did not have let her wait too much on our behalf, and thankfully, she does have some analgesics you might take if your headache gets too unbearable.”

“Ah, good. I was about to lose my temper with all of this incessant pounding in my mind.” Ryoko said this while turning her attention from her thoughts, taking a deep breath and opening her eyes.

What she saw... Better yet, _who_ she saw... Would be forever stuck in her mind.

A beautiful, _beautiful_ , _gorgeous_ girl, with sad, deep eyes, full of hurt and pain, that could not take away their gentleness and kindness. Long dark hair, almost purple in color, with some parts of it uneven cut, but so straight, shinning and smooth, it almost looked like it belonged to a doll... Or even a model. Her silhouette, attractive, seductive, with what seemed to be a beautiful pair of full breasts hidden under a simple pink shirt, a blue skirt and an apron with a stylized red cross on its side... With legs and arms either tightly wrapped in bandages or showing such a beautiful porcelain skin that kept attracting her gaze. Her walk, timid, shy and like an insecure, defenseless animal, with simple white, sand-covered shoes with matching socks, that further made her heart beat even faster. Her body, so fragile looking, her expression so delicate... This made her feel a deep concern for that beautiful girl.

Eyes that needed her.

Eyes that somehow felt so sublime.

Eyes... Like hers?

_'Is she the girl who I wished to remember?'_

Ryoko’s headache was gone in an instant, and her eyes had become dilated, shocked, impressed, growing big just by the sight of this mysterious girl. Her entire being turned away from the indifference, anger, and annoyance she felt until that moment to something indescribable.

Suddenly, she no longer felt disdainful. She felt all the bitterness, all the empty feeling of being hopelessly bored being abruptly erased from within her own self. It was like her own heart and mind was suddenly ripped, stretched out, and twisted back on itself.

Therefore, the Ryoko from before, that disdainful person that cared so little for everything around her, since ‘nothing had anything to do with her’, locked in a bitter behaviour from a past that she had no memories of, was gone in a flash and left just a awed girl, a girl that just felt...

Like someone else.

Someone like...

Like her own true self?

_‘Huh? What was I doing?’_

“...Who are you?” Ryoko’s voice felt weak, she felt so different. Eager for something she could not know. “You... Please tell me...”

The girl flinched for a second, and Ryoko felt a sudden wave of fear wallow her soul over the thought that the girl might have been scared of the way she spoke, but before she could apologize for her behavior, the girl stuttered an answer. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to stare at you so much! I just... You... Um... H-here!”

The girl pushed what seemed to be a small medic kit into Ryoko bewildered hands. “This is a m-medic kit for emergencies I’ve found at the Super Market. It has some painkillers, aspirins and other things inside of it... Um... I’ve checked them myself, n-not that my opinion matters, but...”

“You are wonderful.” Ryoko’s answer had come out of her mouth without anyone, not even herself, expecting it, silencing the timid girl’s tirade. A small, profound silence, filled with something beyond what was actually happening around them was set and those few precious seconds where Ryoko's gaze was fixed on those purple, frail eyes, changed her entire existence forever. Coming to the obvious realization about her behavior towards this girl in her mind, faster than anyone would ever be capable, she gave the said girl a real, exuberant smile, letting her entire being turn radiant under her attention. “My name is Otonashi Ryoko. I would absolutely adore if you would call me Ryoko instead of my surname, but you may call me whatever you like if you wish to do so.”

The girl gasped, blushing deeply, her porcelain skin taking such a beautiful shade of red, with small tears gathering at the corner of her eyes under the compliment, and offered a timid smile. “I-If is ok for me to remember your name, then would you please remember mine?”

“Oh, Tsumiki-chan, Ryoko seems to be having some memory issues-” Sonia had started to interject, but immediately, Ryoko eyes stared at the princess and she stopped talking. “Um... Or not...”

Whispering a small ‘thank you’ to Sonia for her discretion, Ryoko turned back her attention to the shy girl and spoke with all of her sincerity. “Please, continue speaking, and I promise you, that I will do my best to always remember everything about you, no matter what else I might forget around me, or even myself.”

Maybe it was the way Ryoko stated her sincere thoughts. Maybe it was because they weren’t mere promises, but true facts about a forgotten knowledge. Maybe it was how her eyes shined with so much emotion, feelings, memories lost and memories to be made with each other. Maybe it was the blatant devotion in them...

Maybe it was the fact that those eyes recognized each other even when their mind could not remember when or how they could have met, but something told both of them that they could believe in each other.

...Maybe it was all those things and more, but the girl's eyes glinted for a moment and her beautiful blush only deepened and her voice had become heavy with a mutual feeling of something know and unknown for both of them.

“My name... Is Tsumiki Mikan... You are so beautiful.” She said almost in a trance, before blinking and covering her mouth, trembling on the spot, tears falling at the sides of her face. “I-I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me for saying weird things! F-Forgive me!”

Without wasting any second or caring for the property of the situation, Ryoko put the medkit on Sonia’s bewildered hands and simply approached the crying Mikan, hugging her. “Here. I would never hate you for saying something like that to me. If anything, I am the one acting weird here, and I am the one who should be asking you for forgiveness for being so blunt, but if it would make you feel better, maybe we can forgive each other?”

“I-I...” Mikan’s body trembled a little in Ryoko’s arms, surprised and unsure how to react to Ryoko’s bold actions, but she hugged her back and whispered an answer. “Y-Yes... From the bottom of my heart, I hope we can get along...”

Ryoko breathed Mikan’s scent as discretely and as much as she could without the other girl noticing her, she didn’t really care for what kind of opinion Sonia would have on her behavior, but Mikan was a completely different story. She truly wanted to please the girl as much as she could, and there was no way she would let her eagerness for her jeopardize how the timid girl would view her actions.

So she reluctantly had to end the hug, but at least she could look at that gorgeous face again. “I’m absolutely sure of it. I feel at peace just by staring at your eyes, so I would love to spend time with you... If you wouldn’t mind. You look, and smell like a pretty flower!”

Mikan smile was something that Ryoko would certainly describe in her Memory Notebook as cute and shy as a fluffy bunny, and she made a mental note to write about it as soon as she was able.

“I’m so happy... I can’t remember the last time I’ve made any f-friends...” Mikan said in her cute voice, before becoming suddenly scared by her statement, crying in fear of its repercussions. “Ah, not that you actually w-would want to be friends with me! I’m so sorry I said something so... Presumptuous! I will do anything you want, but please, don’t hate me!”

Ryoko hugged the crying girl again, but this time, she acted even more daring, kissing the tear marks on the girl’s face, making Mikan and Sonia gasp with her actions.

One, with surprise and warm.

The other, with confusion and interest.

“I would be overjoyed to be your friend. Don’t worry about doing anything for me, I don’t and won’t ever hate you, Mikan. That’s all I can ask of you.”

Looking at the taller girl with an expression full of awe and even adoration, Mikan nodded. “A-All right...”

“Um, that’s was quite the unforeseen turn of events to behold, but I think I can safely say that I’ve seen more unexpected things happening around me than this, not that I’m complaining, it gave me some good... _Ideas_.” Sonia suddenly exclaimed, startling and making the embracing girls jump back in reflex. “Since Tsumiki-chan hasn’t said so, she is in fact, the Ultimate Nurse, so you can come to her if you need any medical assistance. She was after all, very much concerned with you when you were unconscious, and seemed to truly want to see you get well by any means, so I can safely say that she is someone who you can trust to take care of your health.”

At Sonia’s words, Mikan blushed and muttered to herself shyly, but due to their close proximity, Ryoko heard her clearly. “I would never leave you without my care. I must always care for everyone in need. So, y-you can count on me...”

_‘I wouldn’t mind if you could take care of me, like... Forever.’_ Ryoko’s thoughts were something that any other person would find concerning since they were quite obsessive, but she could not care less. The idea was simply too enchanting, regardless of any implication that it could bring.

_‘Yes... To relinquish everything to this stranger, to this beautiful, familiar girl, with such sad eyes and a lonely gaze, who want’s to please me and seemed too scared to even try... How can I not absolutely want her attention? She is... So... Tempting. I... Don’t even know why I feel like this... But if those eyes decided to destroy the world, even my world, I think I wouldn’t care as long she was there to care for me... Oh, why am I thinking this?’_

“Nurse? It makes sense since she is reliable and gorgeous...” Ryoko said absentminded, deep in thought, noticing yet another pretty blush covering Mikan’s cheeks. “I will be sure to remember this very well, although I wish I remembered what was my talent or something that could be of some use...”

“Y-You don’t remember?” Mikan confusedly stuttered. “But if you are our classmate, you must have a talent of your own...”

Holding her chin with her right hand, lost in thought, Ryoko tried to think about what her supposed talent could be, but nothing came to her mind. Sighing, she tried to at least give a decent answer to the beautiful nurse. “Well, I must have a talent, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to be here with you all since you need to have a talent to be able to join Hope’s Peak Academy. I have no idea what it could be, though. For whatever reason, this is just a mystery to me.”

“Ah... Maybe the shock of the situation is to blame? I-I can try to help you if you wish....” Mikan shyly stuttered. “W-We can try some exercises to stimulate your memory, and follow a diet that can help it- Not that you need to go on a diet, but-”

“Thank you, Mikan! You are the best!” Ryoko joyfully interjected, holding both of Mikan’s hands. After a few seconds, the chestnut redhaired girl frowned in thought. “Hm, I feel like I had to keep doing something, but that probably wasn’t anything important at all, so who cares! It probably hasn’t anything to do with me.”

“Actually, we needed to keep introducing you to our remaining classmates, Ryoko!” Sonia exclaimed. Ryoko turned her head to the foreign blonde and stared at her in confusion. Seeing her expression, Sonia felt unsure. “Um, you do remember who I am, right?”

_‘Should I? Well, she does seems slightly familiar, but I have absolutely no idea of what she is talking about. Maybe I should look on my... Was it a Memory Notebook? Oh, I feel I had thought about it a few minutes ago... Well, this is quite embarrassing... I guess I might be carrying it. Let me see... Maybe in this backpack? That’s more likely...’_

Opening her backpack and taking her Memory Notebook out, Ryoko opened it and asked Sonia. “Er... I totally forgot about it. Please tell me your name and I will look for you right now!”

Sonia seemed to be slightly disappointed with the answer received, but she cheerfully smiled. “My name is Sonia Nevermind, I’m the Ultimate Princess and an exchange student from the European kingdom of Novoselic. We are friends!”

Listening to what was said, Ryoko promptly looked around for her in the notebook. She did find a note in regards to the blonde, but what was written and what Sonia relaid were somewhat different. Now that she took the time to read other notes close to the one she wrote about Sonia, they seem rather... _Aggressive_ , like she could not wait for everyone to simply die as long she wasn’t annoyed or bored by them.

That’s completely ridiculous. She would never write such things in the first place! She probably was very angry by something, but now that she is feeling ok, she really needs to write better things about everyone!

Scratching what she had written about Sonia with her pen, writing a small note in the side of the scratches, with bold letters that read: > **It seems I was Disdainful, please ignore that**< , she proceed to write something more in tune to what she felt at the moment, which was her **Normal** self.

_**‘Sonia Nevermind is the Ultimate Princess and an exchange student from Novoselic, a small country in Europe. She is polite, kind and reliable, and we are totally best friends! I can always trust her to help me around and not be weirded by how I act. Oh, she is very cute, like, her hair is so golden and her eyes are so blue, makes me want to bleach my hair and put some contact lenses so we could match, but I probably wouldn’t look as nice. Now that I think about it, I would probably look like a mean version of her and I’m not mean. Anyway, she is awesome.’** _

Satisfied with what she wrote, she smiled at her friend. “I see what you meant. We are like, best friends forever!”

“We are best friends?” Sonia looked a little confused for about three seconds before smiling radiantly. “Oh my god! I always wanted to have a best friend! This is so awesome!”

The princess hugged Ryoko’s arm excitedly, while the chestnut redhaired girl laughed loudly, in her very strange way. “YAY! Now I have two friends! I will write this so I can never forget! Can you both please wait a little bit? I will write this down as fast as I can, but I might need a minute!”

With both girls nodding in agreement, the chestnut redhaired girl smiled in satisfaction.

Ryoko opened her Memory Notebook again and decided to make her first of many, many notes that she would write about her object of affection, Tsumiki Mikan.

**_‘Mikan. Tsumiki Mikan. Perhaps her name uses the same kanji for ‘sin tree’ and ‘mandarin’? How interesting it would be! It is really is like a seed of a sweet sin just has been planted on my heart at the moment she looked at me. She is so caring, so cute, all stutters, shyness, adorableness(is that even a word? Well, it is now, she deserve all the compliments I can write down), blushing over anything, but crying in the next moment in anxious nervousness. I feel like I need to be around her, I need to keep her to myself, so she can stare at me with those purple eyes of hers, so I can hear her pretty voice, so I can make her give me that adorable little smile and make me feel like this all the time._ **

**_Ah, is that what common knowledge states as ‘love at first sight’? If I was someone dense, I probably wouldn't arrive at such conclusion, maybe I would dismiss this as a mere friendship, but I am not unsure of my feelings. I know about it well enough(I guess? Do I? Now that I’m thinking, am I clever or dense? Well, that's weird), and if there is something truly real in this world, is the human emotions in all their sincerity. Even if someone forgets, emotions hardly do. I am experiencing what seems to be the beginning of being in love with someone. This is a fact. Maybe it’s just an infatuation, but I strongly believe otherwise. Well, it’s not like I have anything else to add or contradict to what I am saying right now, so I will stick to this._**  
**_I almost forgot to tell, she is the Ultimate Nurse. Of course, someone incredible, pretty and caring as her would have this amazing talent. She barely knows me and just got me, a perfect stranger(but not anymoooore~) a medkit from the supermarket(I need to return the favor! I guess I will find something nice for her, not that I need an excuse for giving her a gift) and was so concerned for my well being. She reminded of a fluffy bunny when I said that she smelled and looked like a lovely flower. I might even draw her just so I can keep her expression in my memory, although, I might, unfortunately, forget about it. I think I will probably add more things about her soon, but I already wrote too much about her right now. She and Sonia are waiting for me to finish writing this, so for now, I need to go.’_**

Ryoko returned her Memory Notebook to her backpack after writing the longest note about a new classmate, but maybe due to the fact she wrote it fast (or perhaps, her two friends were merely patient with her), they didn’t complain at all.

Looking at the nurse with eyes full of adoration, and at the princess with happiness, Ryoko exclaimed. “Let’s all go somewhere else! This sun isn’t good for our skin!”

She grabbed both of her newfound friend's hands and happily sprinted away from the beach, with the three of them laughing innocently in their own particular way.

 

Sonia, with excitement.

 

Mikan, with shyness.

 

Ryoko, with hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is, the first chapter. As you may have noticed, she still have to meet another half of her classmates, but rest assured, it will be way more straight forward and our favorite demonic bear will make itself known.  
> Oh, I also need to explain a few things. First, I always had the headcanon that Junko/Ryoko(and of course, Mukuro) was a Eurasian, which means she is half European and half Asian, in her case, Japanese. I will elaborate more on this eventually in the story, but is a well known fact that half Japaneses generally suffers prejudice and are called "hafu'(from the English word "Half"). Usually, they can excel in areas like fashion(which Junko was a part of) or music industry, since their looks are well appreciated in those areas, but they are mistreated in all others by many. Fortunately, this situation is starting to change, but a lot of traditionalists perceive their existence as a threat to their culture, so Ryoko will be dealing with this along the story. I deeply apologize if something might offend anyone, but is something that I cannot gloss over since it's part of what I imagine for this story.
> 
> Ah, as I have mentioned, Ryoko cant control her personalities. They are a reflex from Junko's personalities but while Junko created them so she would not be bored, Ryoko doesn't, they can appear out of nowhere. There are several of them, but for now, she has shown 2 personalities. Her Disdainful personality, which is what was left from Ryoko's original personality(if you read the novel, you know how terrible everything ended for her), so she is always bitter and disdainful towards everything and everyone. More accurately, she acts more like Junko's since she thinks everything is either pointless, since in the end, that is all that was left of her. Now, her Normal personality is more akin to the opposite of her Disdainful personality, therefore being hopeful, caring and friendly. However, all of her personalities are obsessed with Mikan (for some undisclosed reason which I will reveal later, but one of the reasons is her feelings of attraction towards her) and she can jump from one personality to another if she feels threatened. She is the Ultimate Analyst, whether she remembers it or not, so... Things will happen. Oh, they will.
> 
> Her memory notebook is an echo from the fragments of her memory both as Junko and as Ryoko, therefore, being the title of this story.
> 
> Please leave a comment, I would love to read what you thought of this first chapter.


	2. Fragment 02 - Meet and greet, with distrust in her scow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryoko meets the rest of her classmates and feels that there is something wrong with them, while wondering if there is anything wrong with herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, heres the second chapter. Sorry for the wait, and if I tell you that I had to split the chapter since it was way too long? Ah, such despair! Next one, I hope to FINALLY bring our evil bear into play, now that introductions are over.  
> Hm... I would love to hear what you all think and I threw a lot of foreshadowing and hidden things on the chapter. I wonder if someone will have an idea of what they meant? XD

 

As soon as the three girls arrived at the hotel Mirai front gates, Ryoko felt someone violently collide against her body, making her fall on her back.

“Ow!” Ryoko opened her eyes and stared ahead of her in confusion. “Now my poor back is all sore...”

“Oooh! Ibuki can help you with that!” A girl with an eccentric rock’n’roll outfit (or at least out of the Harajuku trends), with the strangest hairstyle she ever saw, exclaimed excitedly. “You look like an angel that fell from the sky, even if you had to fall off on your bum, but you know what I mean!”

Still perplexed with that strange girl’s behavior, Ryoko raised her eyebrow. “...Am I supposed to be a demon, then? That’s such a weird thing to say to someone you just happened to bump!”

The girl quickly raised herself from the ground and offered a hand, still maintaining her joyful smile. “I’ve been told! More importantly, it’s good to know that you are better, Ibuki was worried that you were comatose in that desk!”

“Hm, desk?” Ryoko took the hand offered to her and raised herself from the ground. “I don’t remember anything like that... Ah, maybe I should write this down for future reference...”

“Yes, indeed! Ibuki even tried poking you, but you kept drooling all over the place! It was very cute but too weird to see, you know.” The girl said.

“Drooling? Oh, why this had to happen...” Ryoko sighed in exasperation. It wasn’t how she wanted to make her first impression at all. She grabbed her memory notebook and made a note regarding this information. While Ryoko was writing, she stared at the girl and gave her a polite smile. “Hm, I’m... Otonashi Ryoko, I swear I don’t remember my talent, but it’s pretty common for me to forget a lot of things, so I need to constantly write my thoughts down. Since you are here, maybe you can introduce yourself to me?”

“Wow! You actually can write and talk without even looking at the notebook? Ohhh, I wanted to have this skill!” The girl gave her a happy smile and jumped in excitement. “Right-to-the-O! I’m Mioda Ibuki and is a fantabulous pleasure to meet you!”

“...Fantabulous?” Ryoko looked even more confused than before. “Is this a new slang?”

“Yes indeed! I just made up this word! It's Fantastic’ plus ‘Fabulous’, because I am both, and by the time we leave this island, I will make it the new ‘it’ slang everywhere. Yeah, that’s for sure!” Ibuki boldly raised her chin and placed her hands akimbo, grinning from ear to ear.”Just you wait for it!”

Smiling at Ibuki’s earnest words and antics, the chestnut redhaired girl felt amused. “I have no doubt about it, you gave me the impression to be someone who can reach the sky if you put your will into it.”

“Oh my, oh my, I just got an awesome idea for a new song, it will be called “pretty girl under the shining sky! Thanks!” Ibuku laughed out loud and played an air guitar for a few seconds, even trying to make sounds similar to the guitar chords. “Oh, I just wished that I had packed my guitar case before coming to this trip! Actually, I wished I had brought anything at all. Man, that sucks!”

“So, I gather that you are a musician? Perhaps the Ultimate Musician, or even the Ultimate Guitarist?” Ryoko asked. “You seem like the perfect poster girl for those talents, I guess, your shows must be really awesome if that is the case.”

Ibuki giggled and winked at the chestnut redhaired girl, sporting a somewhat lazy smile. “Aren’t you a flirt? Not that I mind, you can be one of my groupies any time you want, you know.”

Stammering in shock and feeling somewhat offended by the energetic girl’s claims, Ryoko pouted and crossed her arms. “T-that’s not what I meant at all! I just wanted to know your talent, please don’t tease me, Ibuki-san!”

“You look really cute all riled up, but I will stop teasing you, for now, Ryoko-chan.” Ibuki’s eyes shone with her natural enthusiasm. “Yeah, I am the Ultimate Musician, but I’m no longer in a band since my old one really sucked, so I’m still looking for people to join me on my quest for the ultimate symphony that will rock the world, you know? It’s isn’t a big deal while I am still by myself, but at least I can make awesome songs filled with the passion of my soul until I meet my future band-mates!”

‘ _Hm, makes sense. Well, I guess she is quite the lively person to be around, and she is a good company, although I hope she doesn’t flirt with me again... I really don’t want to feel that embarrassed and give her the wrong impression, even if she is just joking, after all, I don’t want to jeopardize my proximity with Mikan...’_

“Well, I hope you can find a guitar around here, that way you can show everyone your skills.” Ryoko pulled Mikan’s and Sonia’s hands, being mindful about her Memory Notebook placement so it would not fall off. “Now, if you would excuse me, we shall be on our way, I need to see around this place.”

“Hahah, that’s fine by me. I will be going to the supermarket again, I wanna try carrying one of those 20 liters bottles of soda that I saw around there.” Ibuki waved and walked away.

While the three girls walked towards the hotel’s pool, Ryoko sighed, opening her Memory Notebook and, already thinking about writing a new note. “She is full of energy and lively, but I think I liked her.”

 

_**‘Mioda Ibuki is a very energetic, happy-go-lucky girl, dressed in an eccentric way to match her equally eccentric personality. She is the Ultimate Musician and apparently, a flirt. While I felt a bit uncomfortable with it, she looks like someone who I wouldn’t mind being friends with, since she is pretty cool. Ibuki-san also mentioned something about ‘looking for new members for her band’. If I knew how to play anything, I guess I would give it a try, but I think I don’t know how to play anything at all, I guess...’** _

 

“M-Mioda-san is a little too bold, but she means well, I think...” Mikan stuttered in her cute way, looking at the direction the Ultimate Musician just took off, her expression slightly apprehensive. “I wonder if w-we will be able to hear her play something...”

“I’m sure she will have the opportunity, Ibuki-san is a very creative individual, from what I saw...” Sonia said while releasing Ryoko hand. She raised both of her arms and stretched them. “I think you met half of the class, and the last time we were here, I saw a few of our classmates that you have yet to be introduced walking around. I’m sure you will be able to talk to them. By the way, can you put this med-kit in your backpack, Ryoko? I’ve been carrying it until now.”

“Ah! I had totally forgotten about it, here, give it to me.” Ryoko didn’t bother to place her Memory Notebook back on her backpack, but she took the care to place the small med-kit into it. “ I’m sorry for that, Sonia. Well, shall we go looking for more classmates?”

Sonia and Mikan nodded and the three girls walked further into the hotel grounds.

While they were walking, Ryoko noticed the existence of wooden, luxurious cottages parallel to each other along the way, making the girl perk up in curiosity. “Oh, how cute they are! Can we take a look? I wonder if we will be allowed to stay there!”

Ryoko strut around the cottages, noticing how pretty they seemed, suspended over an artificial small river with a small bridge that allowed the guests to come to the hotel, leave the hotel, and reach the cottages with ease. A real, well thought architectural project, without a doubt. Each of the cottages had a weird, almost pixelated photograph of someone, which Ryoko assumed that belonged to her elusive classmates, but the pictures were obviously dividing half of the cottages between the boys and the girls. Thinking along those lines, the chestnut red haired girl proceeds to the ‘girl’s side’ of the cottages, trying to find her own room among them.

Passing the pixelated photos of some of her female classmates(letting her gaze stop for a moment while she noticed Mikan’s cottage right at the beginning), she stared at a particular cottage on the middle of the others, more precisely, the last one, at the far side of the bridge. Her pixelated photograph was there, and while she felt confused about their strange way of pointing their rooms, it was a relief to know she had her own place to stay on this island. It would be quite troublesome if she had nowhere to sleep.

_‘However, I cannot help myself but wonder why my room seemed to be structurally different from the others, like, there are exactly eight boys cottages and 9 girls cottages... My own seem... Almost out of place, like... Was it put there without any context? It’s a bit strange...’_

Shaking those thoughts from her mind, Ryoko opened her Memory Notebook and started to ponder over the relevancy of what she learned in her few observations. For this very reason, she started to draw a crude map of the area, already thinking about an eventual need to know her way around this structure, specially since she had to worry about her memory and trying to enter a cottage that wasn’t her own could lead to some complications that she really wanted to avoid. The last thing she needed was to have Mikan or Sonia thinking she was weirder than she already presented herself.

“Interesting. I guess each of us was assigned to one of those rooms since they made those strange photos of us. It’s bad that my own had to be this ominous one right at the end but at least I got somewhere to stay.” Ryoko voiced her thoughts to her two friends. “What do you both think, girls?”

“Huh?” Mikan straightened her pose almost immediately, becoming a little too nervous for such a simple question. “I.. Huh... I...”

_‘Why is she so nervous? Is she afraid of voicing her thoughts? Is she scared of what I would think? Have someone done something to her before to cause such a reaction? Does she think I will hurt her?’_

“I don’t know about Tsumiki-san’s, but I am glad that we have a passable accommodation to stay in. Sure, it's nowhere close to what I am used to, but I shall take this as an opportunity to immerse myself in a proper high school trip experience.” Sonia proudly stated, her elegance apparent in every uttered word. “I never had the opportunity to experience the joy of having friends or anything beyond the outskirts of Novoselic. To be so close to everyone like this, it is almost as if we were neighbors all along.”

“Ok...” Ryoko felt a little confused with Sonia’s sudden tirade, but she could infer that the foreign girl probably was homeschooled and was very much secluded if she was so elated with those simple things.

_‘Perhaps... Did she become an exchange student in order to stall her inevitable destiny of becoming the symbol of her home country? Sonia does come across as someone dedicated and well centered, but even so, she is still a teenager just like everyone here. Obviously, she would want to try to get a lot of friends and good memories. Hm, I wonder if this is a strength or vulnerability, now that I am thinking about it. Well, I want to be a good friend for her, so I totally should write this down. Maybe I can think of something to make her smile!”_

“Huh... I-I also think that is good. I l-like the thought that I can be allowed to be close to all of you.” Mikan timidly muttered, but when both girls turned towards her, she felt scared and nervous again, raising her hands as if to block her face from any attack. “Kyaaah! I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

_‘Please don't be scared! I need to do something!’_

“What’s the matter, Mikan? Have we done something to upset you?” Ryoko gently spoke, making slow, deliberate movements to approach the anxious girl before her, so the Nurse would not get even more nervous. She places both of her hands in each of Mikan’s shoulders, and stared at her, trying to convey her tranquility, coaching the girl into becoming calmer. “You don’t need to worry about such things. I am here and I will do my best to make sure you are having fun, and being respected. Sure, I wished my room was closer to yours, that way we would be able to chat from our veranda’s and gossip about things without any worries, but I am glad to be just a few steps away, so don’t hesitate to come to see me if you are feeling unsure of anything.”

Flashing her brightest smile, she winked. “I’m here for you, after all.”

Mikan’s face turned into three different shades of red in a few seconds before finally settling into a slight blush. “Y-you are very kind, Ryoko... I will do my best to come with g-good conversations topics! I memorized about 5000 of them, s-so you won’t be bored with me, I mean... I-”

“Oh dear, you both are so cute! I cannot resist such adorable display of sorority!” Sonia exclaimed, her eyes shining, an excitable smile... And a tiny bit of drool at the side of her lips. “Ah! We should try making a karaoke night! I heard it was a traditional bonding ceremony of friendship! So we should all get drunk and close to each other while we sing our hearts out!”

_‘...What? Did she just...’_

“...Sonia, you are scaring me a little with this intensity of yours.” Ryoko said, trying to not cringe while she briefly thought about the implications that her blonde friend might have intended. “I supposed it would not be a bad idea, as long that you know that nobody is touching nobody while drunk, _OK_?”

The Princess delicately wiped the drool with a handkerchief and gave both girls a more subdued smile. “Certainly. No means no, after all, and unless both parts are in agreement before it is even done, it would be no better than sexual harassment, and I would never stand such a thing.”

“I’m glad!” Ryoko felt relieved for a moment. She had suspected that Sonia wasn’t the kind of person who would try to take advantage of anyone in a drunk moment, but from the way she acted, she certainly seemed to be the kind of girl who enjoyed watching others doing... _Stuff_. At least, that was what she somewhat showed with that slight perverted smile she was giving before...

As much as Ryoko was a little freaked with Sonia’s interest in such things, she also was flattered with the idea that the Princess apparently supported her proximity with Mikan. However...

_‘...I don’t share, nor I want to show anything to anyone that isn’t my pretty cute nurse. Just thinking about it makes me blush!’_

Shaking her head slowly, the chestnut red haired girl tried to change the subject, least her mind would turn her thoughts into places she didn’t want to go.

“Anyway, girls, let’s get going, we still have classmates to find!” Ryoko smiled kindly at both girls and walked towards the Hotel’s pool.

A short boy wearing what seemed to be an expensive suit was apparently in a hushed conversation with a pale girl with glasses and grey hair. As she was walking, Ryoko momentarily stared at both of them talking, and without even meaning to, she read their lips and infer their words.

“-I don’t know, but are you sure that it’s wise, young master?”

_‘Hm... Young master? How strange...’_

Diverting her attention to another target so she would not interrupt whatever kind of conversation those two were having, the chestnut red haired girl walked towards another unknown individual present in the area.

It was impossible to miss him, with his muscular body, towering presence, and the fact that she barely turned to his direction when the said boy(or man? Is he even in high school? That’s debatable) screamed at the top of his lungs, pointing his finger to her. “Stop right there! I have seen you here before but you had ignored me when I tried to introduce myself to you! SO WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”

Ryoko flinched in reflex over how loud this person’s voice was, it kept ringing in her ears for a few seconds after the question was made, leaving her feeling a little dizzy in response. “Please don’t yell, I really don’t want to get a severe migraine from all this noise.”

“Indeed, you were complaining a lot about your headaches, so it’s an understatement that yelling might make them go back in full. For that reason, please, Nidai-san, do not aggravate her.”Sonia interjected, her authority obvious to who might dare to question her.

Sheepishly holding the back of his head, the boy laughed, seemly a tiny bit more subdued, probably due to Sonia charisma, no doubt. “I see! Well then, my bad for assuming differently, but I was so curious. After all, you had fainted before and I was a little impressed when I saw you walk with such an intimidating stride!”

_‘...Was I here before? Oh who cares about it, with my terrible memory I probably was and I no longer have any recollection about it, but really, he thinks I’m intimidating? Me? I find this pretty hard to believe for some reason, that guy can squish my head with his bare hands.’_

“Hm, right. Well, my name is Otonashi Ryoko, and I don’t remember my talent, but apparently, I do suffer from memory issues, so I guess I might remember it later, who knows.” Ryoko crossed her arms and stared at him, trying to sound more blunt and direct as she could. “However, I find a little absurd that someone such as yourself claim that I was intimidating since I am very much a harmless person. Care to explain why you thought it so?”

“Hah! That’s the spirit! I knew you had it in you!” The man laughed even louder, making Ryoko sigh tiredly. Everything about this guy was way too loud. “You see, I am the Ultimate Team Manager, Nidai Nekomaru, and it’s part of my job to identify the potential on others around me, so I can coach them into becoming accomplished in their selected sports career, and you, Otonashi-san, had all the walk of someone who was set on their objective, whatever it was. I could see a lot of potential in you so I was interested in seeing what you were aiming for.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I supposed I am a little headstrong, I guess? Well, I don’t know. I just...”

“Don’t worry about it. We can talk later, and after I make a series of exercises to awaken your potential, you will see what I mean.” Nekomaru turned his back to the very confused girl and walked away, his wooden sandals clacking loudly on the floor. “I will wait for the opportunity to see what you can do!”

Ryoko stared at his back for a few seconds before turning to Mikan. “Hey... Did this conversation even happen or had I hallucinated all of this?”

“Honestly, I don’t know...” Mikan seemed as confused as her, but she took a deep breath and looked at her in the eyes. “But I c-can see how Nidai-san would think you would be interesting since you are so assertive. You make everyone feel... Drawn to you...”

The Nurse twiddled her thumbs, lowering her voice timidly, looking utterly adorable in Ryoko’s eyes. “A-And exercise is good for the body, and might help you to stimulate your brain synapses while at it, so I really think it would be a good thing to t-try...”

Looking like a deer caught in the headlights, Mikan eyes flooded with tears and she instinctively covered her face. “I-I’m sorry for voicing my opinion! Please don't be mad!”

_‘She really is so afraid... What kind of terrible past experiences she had to endure to act in such a way? I need to help her, but how... Oh, I know!’_

“Hey, you don’t need to worry about it, _ma douce Mandarin_ , it is a wonderful idea.” The chestnut red haired girl smiled, emphasizing the words in an accent very known and at the same time, unknown to herself. “In fact, I said it before, you are a wonderful person, so wonderful things are bound to follow you in everything you do or say to me.”

“ _M-Ma douce Mandarin_? W-Why...” Mikan blushed again, her face getting so red as a tomato. “Why did you call me that?”

“Because you are the sweetest person, and....” Ryoko approached her face a little closer to the blushing girl. “I like sweet things, _specially Mandarines_.”

Mikan swooned at Ryoko’s words, her eyes turning from anxious and scared to relaxed and fascinated. “You... You say the kindest things, you know...”

Ryoko smiled even further, trying to be smooth, but was interrupted by a sigh close to her. She side looked in the direction of the sound-

_‘For the love of god, I hope isn’t who I think it is...’_

-And saw Sonia smiling happily at both of them, with her hands clasped, she was blushing and had a slight heavy gaze. “This friendship is so beautiful, so deep... It’s like the Anime _Magic Knight Rayearth_ , it transcends the boundaries of the world! We should dress up as them and take pictures, that would be the complete proof of our unbreakable bound!”

“...You mean like cosplay? But weren’t we-”

“Oh, don’t need to worry about it, let's just proceed to the restaurant.” Sonia took hold of Mikan’s and Ryoko’s hands and practically skipped towards the intended destination. “I really think we should drink a good tea like Hibiscus to extol our virtues!”

As she was dragged into the restaurant by going up the stairs at the side, the chestnut red haired girl noticed something at the corner of her eye.

The short boy and the pale girl from before were staring at them, most specifically, at herself.

_‘Huh? Were they observing us all this time? Well, that’s creepy’_

Before she could be out of their sight, she clearly read the boy’s lips and could get his message to the girl beside him.

_‘Watch that girl. She might be trouble.’_

Ryoko frowned.

_‘What did he even mean by that?’_

She would find out what was their deal with her later, and it is a promise.

 

\---

 

Finishing her tea, Ryoko surveyed what she had just written in her Memory Notebook.

 

**_‘Nidai Nekomaru, the Ultimate Team Manager(I guess he is like a coach?) is a very loud and interesting boy... Or man... Ah, I don’t know how to classify him. He is too much muscular, tall and outgoing for someone who is supposed to have 17 years, but strangely enough, he is quite a good man. I appreciate his interest in training me, but I am still reeling from his statement that I was someone intimidating. I don’t know about it. I am very laid back, I don’t think I can be demanding or something like that, even if I am a little set on my ideas, but Mikan said that if I exercise with him I might become healthier, consequentially helping me to get a better chance of letting my memories last longer... But I also had thought this: If I work out, I might eventually get really fit, hot and muscular, so Mikan might think that I am prettier to look at and be all over me... Ah! I am so embarrassed!’_ **

 

Ryoko took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, trying to erase her thoughts. She let her eyes fall to the note close to this last one and tried to consider the implications that it might eventually arises.

 

**_‘A bespectacled pale girl called a short boy in a suit her ‘young master’. The same boy was staring at me along with her and I could read their lips for a moment. The boy said that I might pose problems for them, but why would I? I never interacted with them and I have done nothing wrong to cause this reaction... Right? I really hope I haven’t, those two look different from the others... I might need to confront them soon about it, but I am a little unsure. Could they hurt me?’_ **

 

_‘Hm... Maybe Nidai-san’s lessons might just come in handy... But if I need to approach one of them first, I will try the girl. Then, after showing her that I mean no harm, I will approach the boy. Yeah, that’s a good plan!’_

Ryoko smiled to herself. She would do this and-

“-My loins are full of poison, so it would be great if you used your mouth to suck it out, my dear Princess.”

“What!” Ryoko immediately stood up from the chair she was seated, making it fall back, hitting the restaurant floor. “What did you dare to say to us?!”

Standing close to the table, was a very, very short, rotund boy. His nose was too much round and flat against his own face with eyes that were even smaller, looking like small black beads. He was dressed in what seemed to be a chef’s outfit, the famous dolman, with a tiny, caricature short hat pinned to his hair, like a custom hairclip.

And this boy was awkwardly sweating over her words.

“Er, I just said...” The boy shamelessly looked at Ryoko’s, going from her feet to her scowling face, apparently assessing something about her. “Ah, _mademoiselle_ , I was just saying that my loins are filled with poison, and I was just asking if one of you could kindly suck it out and-”

“Ok, first thing, your accent is terrible, don’t ever attempt to speak French ever again, and second, Hope’s Peak really has gone to the rats if they are accepting would-be _rapists_ in their midsts.” Ryoko’s voice was cold, full of justified and barely controlled rage. “Stop preying on others, you creep!”

“Ah, uh, it’s not what you think, y-you know, I was just telling a joke! Whaddya U’now-” The boy nervously started to laugh weakly, his previous accent turning into a very strange one, making a bit hard to understand his babbler, but Ryoko suddenly grabbed the boy’s dolman, tightening her hold close to his neck and raised him from the floor.

“There is _nothing_ to laugh about! You aren’t thinking about the people you might be hurting by saying or doing those things! They suffer, the pain they feel can’t ever be totally healed and you think this is justifiable? You think this is a _joke_?” Shaking, feeling an unbelievable itch all over her skin, like sharp blades were digging and dragging all over herself, Ryoko shook her head in negation before staring at him again, with a tired, sad expression. “...Don’t you have any women in your family? Do you think that they would be happy if they knew they were related to a _monster_? To someone who could do to others what can happen to them if they aren’t lucky? If they walk on the wrong street at the wrong time, when there could be men like _you_?”

Her words had apparently made an impact on the boy, with his face greatly paling as he looked at them, and he, who was trying to come up with excuses before, now was silently lowering his gaze to his own shoes. Ryoko released him, and sadly stated “...Go away. You are making me sick.”

The boy muttered an apology, apparently bothered by what she said to the point he didn't even dare to say anything further to contradict Ryoko’s words. He disappeared into what seemed to be the restaurant’s kitchen, in silence.

“You are so... Strong...” Mikan’s meek voice brought Ryoko’s attention back to their table. The chestnut red haired girl picked up the fallen chair off the floor and sit back on it. “Ryoko, that was amazing... Y-You surprised me, since you were so fast, and the way you handled him... What an amazing s-speed for a slowpoke like me...I’ll never be this fast...”

“You did surprise me as well, but I do not understand why you had to act in such way. Isn’t more effective to simply make him regret his words using other means?” The Princess questioned.

“...I wasn’t aware you had a plan, Sonia. I was too much shocked by his words. In fact, I was too busy writing on my Memory Notebook, and I only heard him talking about having someone suck his ‘loins’. So I had no idea what you could have said or planned to do to him.” Ryoko sighed. “Honestly, I do not regret shouting at him. He deserved to hear the truth.”

“Indeed. I praise your virtuous way of dealing with the likes of him, but I had planned the following punishment for his insolence.” Sonia lowered her voice, almost in a conspiratory way. “I would pretend to have fallen for his poor excuse of a lie, and then, I would grab a pair of scissors and threaten to cut his so-called ‘poisoned loins’ off, so the ‘poison’ would not propagate to the rest of his body.”

Ryoko shivered at the indifferent way that Sonia stated her previous plan. “Wow, Sonia. You are so brave. I would never attempt to even be in a close proximity to that guy’s crotch, or whatever body parts he would want anyone sucking.”

“M-Me neither, although, I would make him really regret saying those things by using-...” Mikan’s voice was like a whisper, apparently muttering to herself. When she noticed that Ryoko and Sonia were looking at her, she stammered. “Ah! I’ve s-said that I would not do that! I would not ever hurt anyone, I swear!”

Patting Mikan’s head, Sonia gave her a small, kind smile. “We know, Tsumiki-san. You are the Ultimate Nurse after all. Such thing is impossible for you.”

Ryoko frowned.

_‘If Mikan wanted, it would not be impossible at all! And stop touching her pretty hair. I should be the one to do that and- What am I thinking? Oh dear, am I jealous?’_

The shy girl apparently noticed Ryoko’s frown, and slowly backed her head away from Sonia’s hand. “Ahh, huh, i-if you don’t mind me asking, b-but why you wanted to use scissors?”

“Ah! That’s easy!” Sonia holds both of her fists in front of her face in excitement, her eyes shining brightly. “Because the famed serial killer Genocide Jack usually execute their victims with them! Apparently is a very effective way of cutting male body parts, from what it has been showed on the news!”

“Wait, what?” Ryoko opened her mouth, closed and opened again, too shocked to make a proper response to Sonia’s statement. “...You _like_ serial killers?”

The blonde seemed even more eager than before, almost jumping on her chair. “What’s not to like about them? They are very resourceful and have the uncanny skill that allows them to elude the law enforcement most of the time, not to mention, their reasons for killing their specific victim or group of victims are too diverse to count. I’ve found them to be quite fascinating, really!”

The chestnut red haired girl took a deep breath and made a mental note to be more cautious around the blonde. Who knows if she would try to do something dangerous? She had to guarantee her and Mikan’s safety first.

“...I... I... Think I know what you m-mean...” Mikan’s voice cut Ryoko’s thoughts immediately. “I... I really like blood, gore and horror movies... It is very interesting, b-but it’s not l-like I want to hurt anybody, I just like to look at them running around screaming, I feel like I could be so useful in those situations...”

_‘Oh... Hm, maybe I shouldn’t have judged Sonia so harshly. However, while Mikan’s words sounded very cute, Sonia’s were almost nonsensical. What a strange girl.’_

“That's awesome! I’m glad you both understand where I’m coming from!” The Princess seemed really happy. “I was a little afraid that you would think me to be too weird for having those kinds of hobbies.”

“...That’s OK, Sonia. We don’t judge.” Ryoko said this but felt a little guilty for lying to the blonde. She tried to tranquilize herself by thinking she was just trying to protect Mikan, but she still felt bad for jumping to conclusions before. “I’m glad I know more about you.”

Sonia blushed slightly at Ryoko, and rested her cheek over her hands, her voice turning playful. “Oh, you’re such a darling to me, Ryoko! I would gladly tell you all about me and-”

“D-Did you actually meant Genocide Syo when you were talking about this Genocide Jack?” The nurse had blurted that question a little too loudly. Strange. “I-I never heard about this Genocide Jack... But everyone in Japan knows about Genocide Syo...”

“Ah, hm... It probably was just a translation that someone thought it would look ‘cooler’ to those from living in Europe or America's.” Sonia stated, apparently considering something in her mind. “So their real name is Genocide Syo... Well, I should not hurt the glorious Japanese culture by calling them in their changed name. For now on, I shall call them Genocide Syo as well.”

_‘...I highly doubt anyone would have any problem with either way... But it’s a little endearing to see that she is so concerned by simple things. Maybe is her way of trying to fit in with us?’_

“Hey girls, just so we know, that creep from before, had he a name?” The chestnut red haired girl inquired. “I forgot to ask, and honestly, I don’t even know if I wanted to, after that horrid display of his.”

“Ah, _him_? That’s easy. He is Hanamura Teruteru, the Ultimate Cook.” The blonde girl said with a clear disappointment in her voice. “It’s a shame, really. He has such an amazing talent, one that requires so much finesse and it is wasted in someone like him.”

“You are right. I think I won’t be eating anything that he cooks, who knows what kind of tricks he might try to pull by using spiked drinks or food.” Ryoko gently bit her lower lip.

She opened her Memory Notebook and proceed to write down what she just learned.

 

**_‘Hanamura Teruteru is the Ultimate Cook and enjoys sexually harassing others. In fact, he tried to convince(as if anyone is so stupid to fall for a trick like he attempted to) us to suck an nonexistent poison out of his loins. He seemed focused on me and Sonia, probably because he thought we were too gullible. It saddens me that someone with a very useful talent is a monster. I even said so to his face, and I asked if he had any female family members like a sister or a mother and if they would approve of his behavior. This apparently made him back off and feel bad, but honestly, he really should rethink his life choices for starts. I won’t be eating anything that guy makes, especially since he might have put something dangerous in it.’_ **

 

“Please promise me that you both will be careful with him and won’t eat anything he cooks. It could be dangerous.” Ryoko said, closing her Memory Notebook and holding it in on her hands.

“Y-Yes! I promise!” Again, Mikan’s voice raised in volume, and while Sonia seemed surprised by the voice tone, Ryoko’s eyes glinted in adoration. “Ah... I never made a promise to anyone... It feels so nice...”

Hooking her pinkie finger with Mikan’s own, the chestnut red haired girl shook their hands slowly. “Then its settled then. The first of our promises to each other. I’m sure we shall share more and more of them between us.”

Just like before, the Nurse acquired different kinds of blushes, her purple eyes dilating at her actions.

However, their moment was interrupted when someone who wasn’t in their table previously cleared their throat, catching Ryoko’s attention.

“Could you please come with me for a second?” The pale bespectacled girl from before spoke to her, her red eyes looking almost threatening. “I think we should have words with each other.”

_‘Interesting. Now that I am seeing her up close, I can tell that she is an albino, or has a close genetic relation to one, to say at least... Argh, why I am even thinking that? For all that I know, she might try to hurt me or something.’_

“Very well. As long we are in this restaurant, even if we go further away so we can properly talk privately.” Crossing her arms, and hardening her voice, Ryoko stared at the pale girl. “Do you agree?”

The pale girl was silent for a few seconds, apparently considering her words when she simply nodded and pointed to the far side corner of the restaurant.

When they both arrived there, Ryoko briefly turned her sights to the table she previously sat. Mikan seemed worried while Sonia was attentively following their movements.

_‘Good. Although I feel bad that Mikan is worried for me, I also am glad she cares for my safety, not to mention, having Sonia carefully observing us is also a bit reassuring, even if Mikan’s worry is a far more of a comforting thought.’_

“First, I apologize for the way I have approached you, I had not intended to come across as a possible danger to you or our classmates.” The pale girl politely bowed. “Allow me to try rectifying this by introducing myself. I’m Pekoyama Peko, and I am known as the Ultimate Swordswoman. If what that rabbit said it’s true, we are expected to live together on this island, and for such reason, it is required that we help each other.”

Crossing her arms, the girl’s gaze turned almost threatening. “Don’t try anything, since I really would prefer not to harm or kill anyone.”

“...Look, I don’t know why you are saying those things to me since I did absolutely nothing to deserve this treatment, but you can tell your ‘young master’ that I mean no harm to anyone.”

“ _What!_ How did you know about that?” The girl motioned to a tubular case strapped on her back, removing a bamboo sword from the inside of it and pointing it to Ryoko’s neck. “Are you one of my young master rivals?! Were you the one responsible for bringing us to this island!?”

Bringing both of her hands to protect her face, and getting nervous, Ryoko carefully answered Peko. “Uh, Pekoyama-san, would you please not jump into to conclusions and try to attack me? I just overheard you call that boy by this title, so I just concluded that he was your boss. I’m really not a suspicious person. In fact, I suffer from memory issues. I don’t remember my talent and I keep forgetting most of the things, so it’s very unlikely that I would even be considered a nuisance to both of you.”

Peko narrowed her eyes slightly, considering her options. She put her bamboo sword back on her sword case. “Very well then. So let’s make a deal. You don’t reveal what you learned to anyone, and I will remain civil towards you. However, if you say anything or do anything against my master, I will make my threat a reality, as much as I don’t like the thought of it any more than you.”

Narrowing her eyes in response, Ryoko offered her hand to the girl, expecting her to shake it. “Then it’s an agreement. My name is Otonashi Ryoko by the way. Could you please bring me to your boss? That way we can properly finish those introductions and I will be out of your way faster.”

“Deal. Follow me.” Peko turned her back to Ryoko and proceed to a set of stairs in the middle of the restaurant, somewhere that the chestnut red haired girl still hasn’t gone through.

Ryoko runs to the table where Mikan and Sonia were. “Girls, Pekoyama-san wishes to talk to me further down the stairs, but I will be back soon, OK?”

“A-Are you sure?” Mikan whispered, insecurity lacing her words. “She almost hit you with her sword...”

“We should trust her, Tsumiki-san. I doubt that Pekoyama-san will do anything. It is probably a misunderstanding.” Sonia tried to sooth the Nurse worries. “Besides, Ryoko didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly, as I said before, I will be back soon, so you both stay put, you hear?”

After receiving their confirmation, Ryoko returned to Peko’s company.

“So you know, I just explained to them that I was going to talk with you privately.” The red haired chestnut girl whispered to her companion. “You can stop frowning now.”

“I see.” Was Peko’s simple answer.

Both girls took the stairs down, reaching what appeared to be the hotel’s lobby. A girl was busy playing a handheld game while a red haired girl with a camera was attempting to strike a conversation with her without much success. Further away, sitting on a leather sofa was the short boy from before. The ‘young master’ that the girl beside her was so intensively staring.

“Young master.” Peko’s voice was low when they approached the said boy, and she gave him a slight bow. “This girl is called Otonashi Ryoko. She has memory issues and apparently keeps forgetting everything around her, even her talent. From what I saw, she isn’t a threat, and I would like to have the opportunity to introduce you to each other since she is our fellow classmate.”

The boy’s freckled face twitched briefly, and he merely crossed his arms. “She has a mouth, Peko, you didn’t need to do the talking on her behalf.”

“I... Apologize, young master” Peko bowed again. “I won't do this again.”

“And stop with the ‘young master’ crap. I already told you to not call me that, especially in front of those morons.” The boy gritted his teeth.

Peko apologized even further, going so far to bend her body in 90 degrees.

_‘The way he is acting... His choice of words... It seems so... Familiar... Could he be...’_

“What’re you looking at!? You got something you wanna say, you dung beetle!?”

_‘Dung... Beetle...?’_

At those words and that voice tone, a flash of a memory appeared before Ryoko’s eyes.

 

_A boy with girlish eyes stands before her holding her shoulders with both of his hands._

_“What is so funny?” His grip tightened. “I realize that’s the way dung-beetles laugh, but even though you are one, it’s just too gross. Can’t you at least try to laugh more normally?”_

_“Hyo hyo hyo hyo hyo”_

_“...What‘s normal about that? That‘s even grosser!” Shocked, the boy rolled a trolley noisily from the center of the lab. On top of it were several complicated, important-looking machines._

_He pushed the trolley up to the bed, saying “Here we go.”_

_And he started operating one of the machines with a tense expression on his face._  
_She stared at him working on those complicate contraptions. Silky soft hair. Long almond eyes peeking through it. Long feminine eyelashes. A pointed jaw. Small pale lips. Long white fingers –_

_“Stop looking at me, Ugly. It‘s creepy.”_

_…And a sharp tongue._

 

As soon as it appeared, the memory was gone in an instant, leaving Ryoko reeling from the sudden backslash of it. She turned her eyes to the short boy before her, who was raising an eyebrow, apparently at her silence.

 

She acted in an impulse.

 

Ryoko bend her body towards the short boy, making him back into the sofa in reflex. She held his face with both hands and stared into his hazel eyes. “You... You look like _him_... So beautiful..”

The boy blushed in a deep red color.

“Step away from him-” Peko tried to push Ryoko away from the boy when his whisper was heard by both girls.

“...That’s ok, Peko. I don’t mind.”

Reluctantly and scowling, the pale girl released Ryoko’s shoulder she was holding, glaring at her in annoyance.

The chestnut red haired girl hadn’t moved an inch. She still was staring at the boy in open fascination. “It seems... My name is Otonashi Ryoko... Who are you...”

The boy slightly tugged on his tie, his blush deepening. “I’m... Huh... Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko. The Ultimate Yakuza. So we are clear, you’re definitely a strange broad.”

Releasing Fuyuhiko’s shoulders, Ryoko muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. “I... I know.”

Bowing her head, she turned around. “Thank you...”

After Ryoko walked away and up the stairs to the restaurant, she would question why she had acted in such way, but the way her heart had beaten during it was as much confusing as it was joyful.

She felt an irresistible _need_ to find that boy from her memory. She needed him, she wanted him.

She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him. She needed him. She wanted him.

_Want._

_Need._

...But what for? Why couldn’t she remember the reason?

_‘I’m so confused. Mikan... Please tell me what to do, I don’t know...’_

 

She opened her Memory Notebook in a trance and made three notes regarding this particular encounter.

 

**_‘The pale girl from before is known as the Ultimate Swordswoman, Pekoyama Peko, and she is a bodyguard for the Ultimate Yakuza, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko. She seems very much protective of him, and it reminded me of my need to be around Mikan since I feel like her, I guess... I believe I like her, she is nice.’_ **

 

**_‘Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko is a more confusing subject, I’m afraid. He was very much a curt person when he was talking to me until he called me ‘dung-beetle’. That gave me a déjà vu of some sorts, and I recalled a piece of a lost memory, I think. I got awfully close to him because of that and he blushed so much. I think Pekoyama-san felt jealous of it, but he seemed to like what I did for some reason. I admit, he looked very cute.’_ **

 

**_‘The memory I recalled is troublesome. I saw a beautiful boy with girlish eyes, a sharp tongue and all in one a bad attitude. I felt nothing but absolute adoration for him, but at the same time, I am frightened. I don’t know what I should do about it. I feel terrible not knowing that.’_ **

 

\---

 

“Ryoko? Are you sure you’re OK?” Sonia gently asked for the third time since she had gone back. “You are acting so differently from before. Has Pekoyama-san done something to you?”

“...Not really.” The chestnut red haired girl muttered, lost in thought.

“R-Ryoko...” At Mikan’s voice, Ryoko stared at her, eager for an answer from the Nurse, whatever it could be. “I m-might be saying nonsense... But have you remembered s-something?”

“Yes. I have.” Without even thinking about her words, she blurted an answer. “Pekoyama... She introduced me to this boy, Kuzuryu... He reminded me of... _Him_.”

“Him?” The nurse whispered, her voice seemed almost dreadful. “W-who are you talking about?”

Ryoko didn’t know, or at least, she assumed a part of her didn’t want to know, but with those conflicting emotions wrecking her mind, she felt like a part of her was hoping to find this boy, and another was desperately trying to stay the farthest away from him.

“Oh, I see...” Sonia’s voice broken her from her trance.

Apparently, she had spoken her thoughts out loud.

“Is he your b-boyfriend?” Mikan’s voice was laced with sadness. “He m-must be an a-amazing person t-to have y-you...”

Suddenly grabbing both of the Nurse’s hands, feeling how cold they were compared from before, Ryoko brought her body as close as she could to her friend as if she were desperately trying to keep her from running away.“No, Mikan, he wasn’t anything like that, he was-”

_‘He wasn’t my boyfriend, right? RIGHT? Am I upset or not by the thought of it?! Why do I feel like this isn’t love? Or is it? Why do I feel there is something terrible surrounding those emotions?’_

“Uh, excuse me, am I interrupting something?” A girl’s voice cut through their conversation. “I saw you talking with Kuzuryu-san before, and I thought that you might have had the same impression of him as I did...”

She was fumbling with her camera strap, apparently feeling how awkward the atmosphere was around the table. “My name is Koizumi Mahiru. I’m the Ultimate Photographer.”

The name seemed familiar and important for some reason, but at that moment, Ryoko was too confused and desperately trying to calm her heart down to noticed it’s importance. Perhaps if she had done so, she could have prevented what would eventually happen, but sadly, due to her own confusion, Koizumi Mahiru was just another simple girl in her eyes.

“My name is Otonashi Ryoko.” She said curtly.

“Ah... OK...” Mahiru sheepish scratched her head, feeling awkward from the voice tone the chestnut red haired girl used with her. “What’s your talent then?”

“I don’t remember. Sorry.” Ryoko’s answers were direct and short. Right now, she only wanted to grab Mikan and bring her to a place where the two of them could embrace each other without anyone else interrupting. Without classmates, memories, and anything trying to get between them.

She wanted to go to this place so she would stop feeling like she wanted to burn everyone else standing in the way of her love.

“R-Right.” Mahiru tried again. “Are you feeling better? You were drooling a lot on that desk...”

“...I’m fine.”

“Uh... Right...” Taking a deep breath, the girl slowly backed away from the table. “Well then, I guess I will see you around when you are feeling more up for a conversation. Bye.”

She felt guilty for the way the girl walked off, obviously disappointed with her. However, the chestnut red haired girl had more pressing concerns to worry about. Like, how Mikan’s hands were caressing her hips and waist, how her breath was tickling her neck, making her shiver in reflex, or how Mikan’s face was sporting a deep, lost gaze, her eyes apparently...

 _...Lustful_.

_‘Ah... How unexpected... She looks so... Hot...’_

Ryoko wanted to kiss her at that moment. She really wanted to.

But yet again, she was interrupted by Sonia, however this time, Ryoko was pretty sure it wasn’t the Princess intention to even voice her wishes out loud, even if she were just muttering.

“I wish I had this on video... They are acting so forward with each other, will things progress... So pretty...”

Feeling her entire body burn from embarrassment, Ryoko released Mikan, exclaiming out loud. “GAH! Don’t startle me, Sonia! I-I don’t even know what you meant by this!”

“Huh?” As if waking up from a dream, Mikan’s looked at Sonia in confusion, before her eyes grown big in shock, and she covered her face in embarrassment. “AH! I’M SORRY! I wasn’t being a pervert, I swear!”

Being at the receiving end of both girls anxious remarks over her words, Sonia felt herself blush in an equally deep shade of red. “I know! And I wasn’t fantasizing about anything!”

After a moment of silence where none of the three girls had the courage to speak, Mikan whispered. “I-I think we should pretend that this conversation never happened...”

The three girls agreed immediately.

Ryoko wrote a note about Mahiru, attempting to ignore the awkwardness from before.

 

**_‘Koizumi Mahiru is the Ultimate Photographer, and she really did try to have a proper conversation with me, even if I wasn’t very helpful(sadly enough). She had asked me what I thought about Fuyuhiko-kun, but I didn’t really answer her. I feel guilty. Maybe I can eventually talk about it when a good opportunity arrives?’_ **

 

\---

 

“Hm, I think you only need to meet three people right now...” Sonia said while overlooking the lobby. “Oh look! It seems that Nanami-chan is just talking with those two. Let’s go introduce yourself to them, that way you can get this over faster.”

“Yes, let us go.” The chestnut red haired girl and her two companions walked towards the last remaining classmates.

The girl from before still was playing that game and seemed to answer the two boys in front of her without taking her eyes off the handheld console.

_‘Wow, she can do the same thing that I can! That’s so cool!’_

The girl yawned but still seemed interested in playing her game. The two boys seemed a bit perplexed by her actions.

“Hello! I haven't seen you two before and I still haven't introduced myself to any of you.” Ryoko exclaimed, staring at the three classmates before her. “I’m Otonashi Ryoko, and I don’t really remember my talent since I suffer from memory issues, but I hope we can get along! So what’s your name?”

“You don’t remember your talent as well?” One of the boys, sporting a thick _ahoge_ exclaimed. “Ah, sorry for being so forward. I am just a little relieved that I’m not the only one who has forgotten about it. My name is Hinata Hajime, and like you, I have no idea what is my talent, but besides that, I don’t think I have any more memory problems.”

“Ah, I’m so relieved as well, even though you aren’t exactly like me with constantly forgetting things to a point that I have to write them all down.” The chestnut red haired girl happily exclaimed. “And what about you?”

“Hm, me? I’m so glad a worthless person such as myself could have your attention.” The other boy, with his skin paper fin and obvious sickly countenance, replied, his words making Ryoko confused and getting a little weirded out by his answer. “I’m Komaeda Nagito. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you are feeling better.”

“Uh, right...” The way Nagito keep staring at her was increasingly worrisome. She felted inexplicably creeped out by how intense his smile was... Almost as if he was expecting something to happen. Good or bad. “So, what’s your talent, Komaeda-san?”

“My talent? It’s a bit of a disappointing talent compared to all of the other Ultimates, but I’m this class Ultimate Lucky student.” Nagito stated this, sighing and giving Ryoko what seemed to be a defeated smile. Perhaps even...

...A smile without hope? Why I feel so unsettled by it?

_‘He gives me a bad feeling, for some reason... I better watch out for him, and those eyes are looking too twisted like there is something wicked in this guy flatteries and false pretenses.’_

“O-Ok then.” Ryoko turned her attention towards the unknown girl in hopes that she would distract herself from interacting with Nagito.

The girl had put the video game away and was staring at her directly, and Ryoko noted that compared from what she briefly observed of her behavior with Mahiru and those two boys, the girl seemed far more alert and paying close attention to her.

_‘Huh? That’s strange...’_

“Well, have you heard me? I can introduce myself again if you haven't listened.” Ryoko tried, being extra gentle, feeling an unexplainable sense of obligation to do so.”I’m Otonashi Ryoko, and I don’t remember my talent at all. So what’s your name and what is your talent, if I might ask?”

The girl was silent, just staring at her with a neutral, blank expression. Ryoko awkwardly waited for an answer, wondering if the girl was possibly a mute.

“...Let’s see...Oh right, introductions. Got it.” She appeared to be assessing something, staring at Ryoko even longer before answering her again. “I’m Nanami Chiaki, the Ultimate Gamer. Video games are my hobby, and I’m a fan of all genres.”

The name made Ryoko feel a sharp pain inside her head. She grunted and held it with both of her hands.

 

_She had the bolt of a vision flashing on her mind. A girl that looked eerily similar to Chiaki was laying on a pool of blood, a creepy female laughter echoing everywhere. The smell of the gore made her want to throw up and the sounds made her wish for absolute silence._

_A shadowy figure contorted itself towards her. Eyes that seemed too much evil. Red eyes. Eyes that promised her a gruesome fate. Eyes that showed so much disdain for her existence._

_Eyes of a murderer._

 

“Are you OK?” The weird boy, Nagito, asked her, placing his left hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you should sit down, you seem to be wobbling a little.”

When she looked at his hand, she had another flash of pain, by this time, the pain was accompanied by another vision.

 

_A boney, sickly looking hand covered in purple veins sporting fake, long red nails was clutching her shoulder tightly, it’s almost rubbery complexion startling her. She could hear a distorted screeching laughter echoing in her ears._

 

Ryoko flinched and shook her head again, the sensations fading from her mind. The headache that tormented her was gone, and the bizarre memory that accompanied it as well.

“I’m fine...” She answered, noticing how Chiaki, who was previously sitting on a bench had raised up and was clearly showing concern for her, with her hand not holding the handheld video game reaching out to her own, and the sight of it made her feel even more awful, like she needed to protect this girl or else something bad would happen. “I just felt a little dizzy right now, so you don’t need to worry about me, Nanami-san.”

“D-Do you want me to check it out for you?” Mikan was right before her, placing her hand on her forehead as if to see if she had a fever, side-eyeing Chiaki for a second. “Are you feeling nauseous? Is your vision darkening? Maybe you are showing signs of a seizure-”

Gently patting her head, Ryoko smiled. “Thanks for caring for me, _Ma Mandarine_. I’m just a little tired, that’s all. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“I-If you say it so...” The Nurse whispered to herself.

At that precise moment, the characteristic chime of a school bell echoed across the room, but from the volume of it, it was safe to assume it reverberated in many places besides the lobby she currently was. As soon as the ‘ding dong, bing bong’ sound finished, a monitor placed close to the reception desk had suddenly sprung to life.

 

On the monitor, there it was the strange bunny that Sonia told her about. The said bunny looked absolutely adorable, cute in every possible way, and Ryoko felt herself smiling at it in awe over its cuteness. The bunny sat over a love seat, apparently in a very colorful room, smiling cheerfully at the camera.

“Congratulations everyone! It appears that everyone here has finished collecting their first set of Hope Fragments!” The bunny appeared to be sniffing, with its fluffy round hands seemly cleaning its bead button eyes from tears of joy. “I’m... So happy! For that reason, I’ve prepared a present for everyone that will make you all veeeeeery happy like me!”

The bunny gesticulated to a small map on its hands, giggling in apparent bliss. “I apologize for the trouble, but please gather at the beach! May shining hope be with you all!”

And the monitor turned off as soon as she finished those words.

 

_‘Huh? Hope Fragments? Is that the thing that Sonia had told me before? Ah, I cannot really recall much of it. Probably wasn’t important. However, this fluffy being want's us to go to the beach to receive something... Oh, I wonder what it is!’_

“She said to meet at the beach...” Nagito said to Hajime, who was staring at the blank monitor with uneasiness. “Hinata-kun, thinking too hard about all of this won’t solve anything at all. We can decide what we can do after we return.”

“...I wonder if any of this is enough.” Hajime frowned, showing his distaste over Nagito’s suggestion. “But it would be troublesome if I didn’t go...”

_‘Hm. Hinata does act a little too cautious. Is he naturally this weary or maybe he is just a coward? I shouldn’t call him that since I don’t really know him, but why am I so sure of it? I can’t be set on this without a reason... Or maybe I can? I should just go away from those two boys and get myself less influenced by their behavior.’_

“Mikan, Sonia, let’s go to the beach, please?” Ryoko practically begged her friends, whispering to them. “I still have to see and talk to that adorable bunny and possibly hug it, but mostly, I just need to get away from here. _Fast_.”

“...Ok..” Mikan moved her hand close to Ryoko’s but stopped herself from holding her hand, gripping her own skirt. “L-Let’s go!”

Sonia didn’t have Mikan’s shyness, so the blonde grabbed both girls arms and lead them away from the hotel lobby, or more specifically, she dragged her two friends with her excitedly. “Then what are we waiting for? Words are dwarfs, deeds are giants like we say in Novoselic, so we must be like giants and just go for it!”

“I-Is that even a s-saying!?” Mikan half gasped and half asked, trying to follow the blonde without losing her balance. “S-Sonia-san! Slow down, please!”

“Huh? Ah, OK, sorry for that!” The Princess slowed her pace, and Ryoko noticed some of her classmates walking towards the same direction they were headed.

“So everyone is going then? Great!” Ryoko picked her Memory Notebook and opened it. “I think I will make some notes about Komaeda-san, Hinata-san, and Nanami-san while we walk.”

When the chestnut red haired girl looked at her Memory Notebook, she saw an odd looking note, one she felt confused yet again over it’s possible relevance to anything, but made her feel a creepy shiver crawling across her spine.

 

_**“Goodbye, class representative, and welcome to the marvelous world of despair.”** _

 

_‘What the... What this means, and why is written in my Memory Book? I just know that I’m feeling disgusted by it.’_

Ryoko scratched the note in a fit, trying to make it illegible enough so she wouldn’t be capable of identifying it by any means. After she made sure it was impossible to read it, she wrote under it her thoughts about her last three classmates, more in an attempt to forget what she had just read;

 

_‘ **I met my three last classmates, but many things happened and I am feeling a little ill, so take that into consideration while reading this later.'**_

**_'The first one o them that I’ve met was a boy called Hinata Hajime, and exactly like me, he has no idea what his talent is. He isn’t remarkable at all, everything about him oozes simplicity, but I think it isn’t a problem. He just won’t stand out to me that much unless he changes my impression of him, but he has one thing: a thick looking ahoge(isn’t it more like a hair bang? How he gets it standing exactly into place without putting some hairspray? Oh god, he is using it, right?).'_ **

**_'Komaeda Nagito. That guy gives me the creeps. Really, he seemed like the kind of person who would scoop someone’s eyes with a spoon and eat it with a curry soup! This kind of freak that I'm talking about! I don’t even understand why am I so creeped out by him, if we just traded a few words with each other, but I just have this... Intuition? He said things like how everyone with a talent was better than him, but he is the Ultimate Lucky student and his words sounded more condescending than anything else. He seems like the guy who would spew flatteries, but what’s his angle? And that twisted look... Not to mention that strange vision I had of someone’s boney hand... Eww._ **

**_'Nanami Chiaki. The Ultimate Gamer. I feel like gagging while writing about her, but not because she is awful or anything like that (since she is actually quite polite), but because I feel like something bad happened to her before but I don’t know exactly what. I just want to see her OK. She cannot get hurt by any means or something terrible will happen. I can’t let it. Everyone will suffer...? Argh, why god, why none of this is making sense to me? That settles it, I will befriend Nanami-san and I won’t let anything or anyone(like Komaeda, he is definitely wrong all over) remotely dangerous approach her. That way, I will stop worrying about this.’_ **

 

Ryoko’s hands sweated a little, but she closed her Memory Notebook and put it under her arm, noticing that she and her two companions had arrived at the beach, where others classmates were arriving or waiting for everyone to gather in place.

Glancing at Mikan and Sonia, Ryoko made a promise to herself.

_‘No matter how much strange my memories might get or how terrible they can make me feel, I’m not letting my two precious friends get affected by them. I will think positively and hope for the best and everything will turn all right.’_

Perhaps if Ryoko knew what the near future had in mind for them, especially herself, she would have chastised those traitorous words from her mind. If she could possibly know...

 

...She wouldn’t play right under her enemy’s trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's all for now, folks! Please leave a comment and tell me what you all thought about it, it really motivates me to keep going on. Ah, sorry for writing too much, I just cannot help myself. Oh, and since the chapter was already too long, I will have to keep Monokuma away until the next one(I HOPE SO! I'm itching to put him in the story already. Damn characters introductions! At least, is practically all out of the way... Just a couple of scenes and a little talk with a certain bunny and we are all set for despair!) XD
> 
> Anyways, a few things to add:  
> AHOGE: An Ahoge (アホ毛, アホげ), literally foolish hair, is a visual cue common to Japanese anime and manga. Consisting of a single, often large, lock of hair sticking out from the top of the head, it is most often used to identify foolish, bumbling or carefree characters. And we all know how much obsessed Danganronpa is with their ahoge's.
> 
> The saying "Words are dwarfs, deeds are giants" is a proverb from Switzerland. I always imagined Novoselic as a country very much like Switzerland, so I used one of their sayings for the chapter.


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